Loserville
by tranquil.stars
Summary: [SCHOOL AU] Selena's always hated Demi, and Demi's always hated herself for it. However, when they're brought together by a prank that went too far, they will have to learn how to get along, after all... and maybe they'll just get along /too/ well. [reupload - T for language & dark themes] [summary lowkey sucks sorry]
1. Loserville

**what's UP, before i go into this i want to say that this story is a reupload from like, 2014? ive gone through and spiced up some things so that it's better and closer to this generation... uhhh yeah i think that's it, ik this section is dead but hey maybe there's some stalkers who still like to hop into these kinds of stories**

 **yes, this is f/f (eventually), if you don't like that it's chill just hop off, but otherwise let's go**

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The courtyard was empty today, while it was mostly bustled with students of all genders and grades usually now she stood alone, hid behind the thick-stumped tree that was planted in the middle. Had class started, already? The weather was nice, the sun soaked her cheeks, but nobody was there to enjoy it.

"Welcome to Loserville, population of one," shit, she was here - of all people.

"Leave me alone, would you?" Demi's mood sunk lower than it already was, and her long-sleeved shirt stuck to her palm with sweat.

"Oh, I could!" Demi waited, but Selena said nothing else for a while, tapping her bottom lip with the rosemary-colored nails that hung over her fingertips carefully.

"And you're not gonna?" Demi guessed, eyes down low.

"Of course not!"

Demi glared at her, but swiveled around quickly, she should know better than to rile her up. Instead, she padded away from the tree, trying to stay silent and unbothered.

"Hey…!" Selena reached forward, contracting her fingers against the girl's wrist, an angry expression cold in her eyes.

Demi hissed in response, yanking her arm back. The white threads of her shirt latched onto the slightly-scabbed wounds in response, pulling at the binding that held back waves of blood. Not to mention, the newer ones that criss-crossed against the bruises that were there for… more specific reasons.

"Calm down," the girl didn't unlatch her hand, only pressed harder. "You scared I'm gonna melt your hand?"

"Get off!" Demi burst, using her ungripped hand to sock the girl right where her candy-red lipstick ended. Sure, it was off, considering it was her nondominant hand, but her tormentor still recoiled back, blood leaking from her nose.

"You're so gonna fucking pay," she seethed, pinching her nose and swaying on her heels.

"I'm sorry, Selena! It just really hurt," Demi whispered half-heartedly, her confidence boiled down to the equivalent of a penny.

"You know what hurts? My face, you bitch!" Selena leapt forward, her nails outstretched like cat claws, she leapt for the girl's eye, but missed, instead raking them down her face.

Demi winced away from it, finding no choice but to flee. The deer had dared to buckle her hooves up on the lion's toe, a small drop of confidence oozing out of it; but now the lion had recovered and was ready to kill it like it should've done in the first place. Selena ran after her, the dips of her nails pressed against her own concealer-cakey nose.

Demi darted around the school, the lingerers skipping class staring at her, before acknowledging the darting, head-up girl chasing her. From a distance, it looked silly - but it was terrifying. Selena would have her head, cut it right off with those sharp nails!

Finally, she jumped into the locker rooms, holding up the door handle once it was closed. She couldn't lock it because she didn't have a key, but holding it up and pulling back seemed like enough. However, she was hoping Selena didn't find her anyways… unfortunately,

"Are you fucking in there? Let me in!" Selena screamed from behind the door, her petite fists barraging it with thumps and pounds. Demi let herself break down in tears, more scared than she'd ever been in her life. She choked out a sob, still using all of her weight to hold the door shut.

The knocking ceased, and the rabid pulling also stopped. Usually adjusted to the harsh, teasing, or angry tone - Demi jumped when a soft voice came from the outside, "Are you crying? I'm sorry… I didn't mean to make you cry…"

Demi gulped, her breath unsteady. Selena's voice sounded so kind, nurturing; but Demi had to stay strong. Despite her deep internal efforts, her grip loosened on the door, and in came a bloody-nosed Selena. Demi let out a yelp of shock, spurting down to the floor and blocking her forehead with both of her sleeved arms.

"Why would I hit you?" Her nurturing voice was back, "I wanna make you feel better."

"You do?" Demi looked up, so unused to kind words that it was almost surreal to her. Selena set down in front of her on the bench, and Demi jumped slightly.

"Let's be friends," Selena said, brushing the hair away from Demi's forehead. Demi flinched back, but it didn't hurt - she was just scared. Selena was being so nice to her, when just yesterday the girl had taken a permanent marker and drawn genitals on her face while she was asleep in class. That had only caused her trouble with her parents, and she had bruises to prove it. Demi blinked softly to the girl; she could get used to this side of her, the kind side.

"I," Demi began, rubbing her arm. "Sure."

"Good," Selena smirked, standing up and placing a hand on the girl's head.

Demi opened her mouth - probably to ask what she was doing - but was cut short with an exasperated gasp escaping her lips. Selena had pressed her fingertips harder into her head and smashed the girl's head into the lockers. Soon, the gasp turned to a deathly shriek, feeling blood drip from the large dent on her head. She did it again. Then again, again, again and again.

"Whore," Selena spat, now only holding onto a clump of bloody hair, right by the base of the head. She pulled the girl further away, so there was about a meter between her and the bloodied lockers. The girl then dipped her head into the space, still clenching her hair as if she'd die any other way.

"You are nothing," the girl hissed, the innocent act she had dissipating into a different time. Selena pulled back from the slam and slammed her into the locker one more time, the sound of the wrenching metal clang burning her ears. With that, she let go of her support, watching Demi fall, the bloody pulp that used to be her face throbbing.

Selena looked, a rock stuck in her throat. You went too far, a voice nagged her body, and she looked away. Pulling out her cell-phone, she made sure to dial 911 before she left.

Because, Selena Gomez was not that cruel… she just really hated Demi Lovato.

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 **i know this is a really short first chapter and i am BIG SORRY, ill try to update every other day or so ? i dunno ill come up with a schedule soon, otherwise i'll see you later**

 **also, i know that this is SUPER OOC but ! it's an AU for these first few chapters so i can create a fake perspective here**

 **thanks for hopping by**


	2. Insubordinate

**welcome back, before u slide in just know that these first two chapters are mostly character-building and story-building so i have a place to hop from when writing, but!**

 **here you go**

 **\+ BIG NOTE, im not really sure how to write stuff like self-harm & doctors, etc... so im so sorry if i get anything wrong/ offend anyone bc i'm definitely not trying to, i'm just REALLY bad with this kind of stuff so feel free to let me know**

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"Mrs. and Mr. Lovato, thank you for meeting me," Dr. Lockwell began, placing his clasped hands over his desk. "Were you aware that your daughter has been self-harming herself?"

Mrs. Lovato dropped her purse, eyes widened. She laughed nervously, "Oh Doc, always trying to pull a fast one on us!"

"No, I am completely serious," the man proceeded, eyes full of concern. "When she was admitted yesterday in the afternoon, several cuts were found on her wrist and upper-thighs, and they were very obviously self-harm scars. The phone-source says that they believe she self-inflicted the locker-accident, which would make some sense considering her scars."

The couple raised their eyebrows, glancing to each-other nervously. Her father spoke, "We had no idea, had we known…!"

"Most parents do not know," the doctor interrupted, searching his face. "This could be a result of school situation, or a home one,"

"Are you implying we beat our child?" Mrs. Lovato stepped into the conversation, eyes full of fury.

"Of course not, Ma'am," the doctor placed his hands out to calm her, " She could also have some variation of a mental disorder that is causing this, but if the home situation is not it then school is most likely the issue."

"Nothing is wrong with her, she is just going through a phase," her mother stated clearly, pushing herself up from the seat. "You are ridiculous. We are leaving."

"Ma'am, please! This could be very serious," the man tried to get the two back into their seats, but they had left before saying anything. Dr. Lockwell let out a sigh, pressing his temples in angst. He paged his assistant, asking her to call the number on their medical file daily about the condition; hoping that it would do something for the poor soul that lay in the hospital bed.

"Are you kidding me, Demetria?" her mother had said when they got home, her keys clinking as she shut the door.

Her father joined in; it was the usual. Ten punches, three slaps, one ear-pinch. She was blocking it all - she didn't want to talk. She just wanted to shut up, take her beating, go upstairs and cut away all the insults and bruises they left on her skin. There were more, one more of each, but she kept on ignoring it. Somehow, she imagined herself in the locker rooms again, Selena tucking another strand behind her ear. This time, however, she did not get beaten - they locked hands and frolicked through the sakura-spread hallways.

 _Smack_.

A slap to her neck this time? How insubordinate, she could almost laugh at her thoughts, before, "Get the fuck out of this house."

She had not been listening, she was up and high in her own thoughts. Her eyes widened, surely her father was joking! The dimmed freckles on her cheeks darkened almost, and she tried to give her father a weak smile, hope dimming at his serious expression. "What are you waiting for? A fucking _escort_? Leave!"

She stumbled over her own feet, scurrying out of the door before her father hit her again. Her face was black-violet now, the moonlight sparkling the blood that stained her cracked lip. The only place she knew where to go was the park near the diner; it was a whiles away but she knew of just the spot where she could cry and nobody would ever hear her.

Luckily, she managed to walk the whole way without crying, or getting mugged. She avoided every glance, lucky that the swaying trees shaded her bruised, pulped face with tones of gray and black - well enough to get little to no suspicious glares. When she arrived at the park, Demi let her knees fall to the sand, the pebbles cutting up her knees more than her razorblade ever did. With that, out of her mouth escaped a hoarse cry, at first - but after a few seconds of sobbing, she screamed. She screamed out all of the pain that she could never scream and let out before; she screamed like she was being roasted alive, pierced with spikes, and lashed with a scalding whip. Unfortunately, life had done all of those things to her, and now Demi was screamed at the sky, screaming at the sand, screaming at herself. Because nobody could hear her; and she wasn't sure if she liked that anymore.

"Of course, Hank!" Selena assured her coworker she'd be okay one more time, the loose apron around her waist swishing as she moved to the hook. "It's just the next two weeks off so i can focus on my studies, I have extra money to support myself during to week."

"I guess," Hank sighed, rolling his shoulders, resulting in a few cracks of relief.

Selena untied the back of her apron, slinging it over the hook. Luckily, Hank was locking up tonight so she could go home early. She planned to hop into bed and fall right asleep, nothing more. However, she paused on the way to her car when a sob emitted from the park beside her cafe.

"Shit," she cursed, squinting to try and see who it was. Whoever it was happened to have a familiar voice, but the cicadas buzzing seemed to mask it pretty well.

Selena began to trod closer to the voice, making out features one at a time. Firstly, whoever it was happened to be on their knees, head in their hands. Secondly, her face was hidden, but Selena could make out freckles and bruises the more she got closer. My god, what if it was a girl who ran away from an abusive boyfriend, or something? Poor girl! Selena tried to hushed her footsteps as she got closer, but the girl's head shot up and she tumbled back, hands straight and pushed into the sand, back arched. Selena still couldn't make out her face, since it was pulped and black with bruises.

"Hey, you okay?" she squinted a bit, but the girl ducked her head and dipped her matted hair over her features.

"Are you satisfied?" she asked carefully, and Selena saw a glazed tear drip into the sand between her legs.

"What?" Selena squinted, not understanding.

"I'm kicked out of the house, I probably have a concussion, and I've lost all hope for myself." Demi lifted her head fully, facing her tormentor with teary eyes; and Selena's eyes gaped.

"Demi?"

Demi scoffed, shutting her eyes and letting tears slush from them.

"You're kicked out of the house? Why?" The girl asked, trying to gulp down her guilt.

Bruised, she let out an angry breath and stood up, the moon hitting her freckles gallantly. Selena had never seen her with such little makeup, she was always caked and hidden. Now, she understood why - without it, her face was violet and blue, her eyes bloodshot and her lips cracked. Demi put her head in her hands again and turned away, putting her forehead against one of the playground streetlights.

"Don't worry, I'll do it myself." Demi parted her sticky forehead from the black metal, proceeding to slam it back into the pole.

" _Hey_!" Selena screamed, dropping her purse and rushing forward. The girl pulled the other girl back, one arm around her collar bone and the other oppositely around her waist. "What the fuck?"

"What's the point?" Demi struggled, managing to reach another slam before Selena yanked further back.

"Are you fucking crazy?" Selena shouted, twirling the girl around and pushing her backwards into the sand - watching her skid and shoot up sand pebbles."What do you think that's gonna solve?"

"Why are you acting nice? More emotional trauma? I've _had enough_! Just _kill me_ if you're gonna do it!" Demi shouted, itching her wrists with her nails.

"God, you're fucked up," Selena gripped Demi's arm, yanking her up. "Come to my car. Ugh, the things I do just to kick your ass."

Demi fit her feet into the sand, restricting Selena's pull. Unluckily, Selena yanked once more, but harder, slipping her hand to the newest cuts on her arms.

"Fuck!" Demi shouted, writhing her wrist around painfully. Selena squinted, pulling up the sleeve of the girl's shirt, eyeing the criss-crossed scars and the bruises that turned the red scars into bulging, pulsing pockets of pain.

Demi half-expected her to say something guilt-filled or apologetic, but instead she looked down and crunched her teeth together, "You're a mess. _Come on_ , loser."

Demi would assume she did not care, but noticed that Selena had opted to wrap her fingers around her knuckles-not daring to hold her hand, but close enough-instead of stay in the painful spot.

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 **do not worry,,, we will get to the JUICY bits in a bit ;) but as usual thanks for hopping by,,, if you wanna review then wow go for it i'd be honored**


	3. Population

**welcome back! thanks for hopping by, i hope you enjoy this tiny chapter, sorry it's not longer ... & im also sorry that it's not that descriptive ngl i was rushing**

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The car ride was painful, to say the least. Demi was sure that Selena was jerking and swerving the car purposefully just to make her scared. Every time she would wince, Selena would snort and go even was so terrifying, Demi wouldn't be surprised if when Selena finally got home her house would be some sort of demon-worshipping apartment with pictures of her with doodled mustaches and arrows flung into her face. Except, it was a normal 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom apartment. There was an old, boxed-in TV, with just a sofa pointed towards it. The TV box had multiple items on it, including the button-popped remote that looked it it would be very hard to work.

"Why did you bring me here?" Demi turned, eyes full of confusion and some sort of rage.

"Why did you get kicked out?" Selena retorted, crossing her arms.

Demi paused, opening her mouth and inhaling, "None of your business."

"Tell me or I won't let you stay," she warned, but Demi shrugged and reached from the door.

"Okay, no wait, I wanna know really badly. Please tell me?" The girl practically begged, clasping her hands together in desperation.

"Cause of you," Demi answered stiffly, mostly because she wasn't really sure what it was entirely. Whatever it was though, it was always Selena's fault. Her life would be so much easier if Selena just wasn't in it.

"Kay, fine, don't tell me," Selena scrunched her nose, throwing her hands up angrily. The girl stomped into her closet, yanking out a ratted blanket and pulling one of the many pillows from her bed off and towards the bruised girl.

The pillow whacked her against the head, and the blanket swirled around her arm as it flew. Selena paused, moving to her closet swiftly and throwing her a pair of dark green shorts and a navy blue T-shirt.

"Uhm-" Demi started, stretching the waistband of the shorts. "These are short."

"Yeh, they're _shorts_ …" Selena said, rolling her hands in a circle of each other, urging her to the point.

"Whatever," Demi shook it off, moving to her bathroom and wincingly ripping off her baggy jeans and long shirt. A full-wide mirror stood in doorway, and she gulped. It had been a while since she looked at her body, in its full velocity. She ran her fingers over her poking ribs, but then down to her pushed hips and sunk her nails into the skin. Demi hated herself, and looking at herself with all of the bruises and cuts made her loathing hatred even worse.

The girl looked away, pulling up the green shorts shakily. _Gods_ , they didn't even reach a quarter of her upper thighs! She tried to pull them down, thinking that an extra few inches were crumbled in the inner workings. The shirt was worse, it fit tightly around her chest and hung loosely around her stomach. It was a bit short when she lifted her arms too, and you could see dark purple splotches rolling over her peachy skin.

"These-" she tried to speak louder, "These don't fit, Selena…"

"They should," Selena replied absentmindedly, yanking open the door - which Demi _cursed_ for not having a lock - and investigating. "Those looks exactly like how they look on me, don't be dramatic."

Demi recoiled back, wondering when Selena had _ever_ wore something so raunchy. She tried to think back to the school days, but all she could remember was freckled knuckles knocking on her cheeks angrily. She tried to walk forwards, pinks burning her cheeks as she did, feeling the short shirts ride up her rear as she walked. She stopped, bowing her head in embarrassment, "I hate these clothes."

Selena looked to her legs, taking notice of the cuts that also appeared on her legs. The girl snorted, trying to push it off and turning out of the bathroom, "I always sleep in those clothes, I know they ride up. It doesn't matter, there's no guys here anyways."

"Somehow you're worse," Demi admitted under her breath, scooting on her feet to the couch, trying not to move her legs.

Selena rolled her eyes, watching the girl wrap the knit blanket around her body in fear, cramming herself into the crook of the couch, as if she was trying to hide herself. It didn't matter, though-because Selena would always hate her… probably. Meanwhile, Demi urged herself to say something, but her anxiety was shaking her shoulders, asking what was wrong with her for thinking of talking at all. Footsteps echoed across the room from her, and it was clear Selena was going to bed.

"Thank you," Demi blurted, digging her nose into the pillow.

Selena heard, but she said nothing. She only pushed herself into her room and dropped her back into the comforter. She did not deserve that soft-spoken _thank you_ that she barely heard. She did not deserve to be forgiven.

Loserville, population of two.

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 **thanks for stopping by, feel free to push a review into my face :^) they're pretty nice but if not that's cool too, see you around**


	4. Cuddle--BUGS!

**_time for some BONDING_**

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 _Squeak_. Selena's eyes snapped open, and she cursed her light-sleeper habits. If it was that damn mouse again, it was gonna get a beating. She glanced up, a figure looming beside her bed. Oh, well it was _one_ type of annoying mouse.

"There's a spider," Demi said quietly, pillow tucked into her armpit.

"Kill it." Selena answered sleepily.

"I don't wanna touch it."

"Get a paper towel..." her voice trailed.

"You're out of them!" Demi whispered yelled, shaking the girl's shoulder sadly.

Selena groaned, not feeling like getting up to kill a stupid fucking spider. She rolled over to her back and glared at the girl, a look that said that when she wasn't lucid, she would hurt her.

"Fine. You can sleep in here for the rest of the night. Just… stay away."

Demi gulped, "In- in here? With you?"

"Yeah, stupid. I'm no spider, anyways." Demi mumbled something shakily, rummaging under Selena's sheets and scooting to the end, so much so that the edge of the bed was prodding into her hips.

Demi did _not_ know what happened. One moment, she was sticking over the side of the bed, scared of edging closer to the girl. And now, Selena was sucked to her back, face pressed against the hair on her neck, arms tightly wrapped around her torso. Demi was still on the edge of the bed - she hadn't moved the whole night - but it looked as if Selena was some sort of magnet to whatever was warm and living.

At some point, Demi considered getting up, but a deep part of her wanted to see Selena's reaction to what position she put herself in. At the time, it seemed like a good idea, but when Selena woke up, she let out an unearthly scream. After she was done with her screams, she pushed Demi the one single centimeter that she needed off of the bed. Demi hit the floor with a _thump_ , groaning in pain.

"What the hell…" Demi groaned, rolling her fingers against her probably new bruise against her hip.

She turned around to face Selena, but she had gone out of the room. Well, that wasn't exactly the funny reaction she was expecting. Demi heaved herself to her feet, moving to the kitchen, where Selena was pouring a cup of coffee. However, she didn't stop when it got close to the top and overflowed, only kept pouring, and pouring, and _pouring_ …

"Woah," Demi rushed to her side and helped her stop pouring, laughing a bit. "No wonder you need coffee."

Selena shook herself from her thoughts, nodding swiftly after and dazedly pulling her coffee from the counter, not caring that it _whapped_ over the side and dropped to her floor. Demi let out a laugh, "So, you're a secret cuddlebug."

"Do not!" Selena hissed, and Demi noticed how scared she truly was of this - her hands were shaking, spilling her coffee even more.

"Okay, chill, I wasn't gonna judge you for it."

"Nobody's ever slept in my bed before, so I didn't know…"

"I didn't think you suddenly liked me," Demi tried to diffuse her shaken manner with humor, to no avail. "So I figured."

Selena sighed and brought her fingers to her eyes, brushing away the eye crust from her sleep. Demi did the same, trying to be just as sophisticated as Selena was, but ended up digging her fingertips into her eye to desperately scoop for any of the green muck. Ugh, so not fair - was Selena always so perfect and proper? She even made simple acts look like they were done by the Queen of England.

"Listen," Selena swung around suddenly, eyes full of a bunch of mixed emotions. "I'm sorry for _bullying_ you. I'm not gonna do it anymore, I promise. We go back to school tomorrow so I'll tell everyone you're cool."

"Tha-"

"Just don't thank me!" Selena blurted, throwing her hands side-to-side. "Now come on, I'm gonna drive you to your house to get your stuff."

Demi opened her mouth to protest, until she understood her scenario. Then, she opened her mouth again, "Wait, am I living with you then?"

"Uh… I…" Selena hadn't thought of it, "I… I dunno. Maybe for a bit, but I don't know about forever."

"Obviously," Demi laughed nervously, her nerves spiking. The last time Selena was so… _nurturing,_ she got her head slammed into a locker. Then again, she had nobody else to trust.

"By the way," Selena popped a piece of gum in her mouth, "Your shorts are riding up."

" _Shit_!"

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 **woah! thanks for stopping by, feel free to give me a review if u have something u need to say to me, :^) thank u and have fun**


	5. Enthralled

**time fOR MORE BONDING...**

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Demi sunk her front teeth into her lip, lodging it between the hanging skin and the bloody, cracked contents below the dip. Her door was standing right in front of her, and Selena was waiting in her car beside the mailbox. Her parents were never home at this time, always working-all she needed to do was sneak in, grab her stuff, and run out. It would be four hours until her parents got back, but the rumbling anxiety was punching her from the inside.

"Go in," Selena urged from her car, honking her horn impatiently. Demi turned around in a huff, throbbing her head once sarcastically before turning back around.

"I'm scared," the girl shifted from one foot to another.

"So? Your parents aren't home." Selena tumbled out from the car to talk to her better, "Just go in and grab your stuff. I'll even keep watch."

"Guh, fine…" Demi brought her nails to the side of a wood plank hanging by the door, apart of the old, crumbling siding. Demi yanked a golden, rusty key from inside of the wood, shaking the sticky cobwebs from it with squeals and whimpers. Selena cringed at the details of the ancient house, the dirty gray wood splintering around the base and the roof hanging off of the side like it had been patched with superglue and left to dry. Selena felt measurably unsafe stepping inside, mostly because the door was off one of its hinges and the welcome mat was torn in two and repaired with black, shiny duct tape.

"You _lived_ here?"

" _One_ could call it living," Demi began, slinking the key back in its accessible hiding place when the door was finally closed (with lots of pushing)! "I mostly would call it… dying."

"That's…" Selena brushed two pressed fingers against the windowsill, causing dust to fly into the air; and she sneezed. "Understandable…"

The girl sighed and pushed her way up the stairs, to her closed-shut room. She tugged for a bit to get it unlatched before heading inside, scrunching her nose just a bit. Maybe she got too spoiled with Selena's clean apartment and nice bed that she forgot her own living conditions. That's why she never stayed the night at her friends' houses - but you kinda need friends to do that, too. While she was looking through her clothes, Selena snorted.

"You… you have… three bottles…" Selena could not hold it in, she buckled out in laughter as she pulled open her last bedside drawer open wider. "Three bottles of Spider Killer Spray!"

Selena could not hold in her laughter, she was on the floor - completely overridden with boisterous laughter that could shake her rickety house to the ground. Demi scoffed and packed one of them into the bag Selena had given her… and it made Selena laugh even more. Demi rolled her eyes and crossed her freckled arms, "So? Spiders are scary!"

" _Three..!_ " Selena chortled and wheezed one last time, slapping her knee as more laughter escaped her. Demi fake-laughed, starting to push her clothes into the bag. Of course, Selena had to help her a bit by saying stupid things like:

"What? This is so ugly!" And, "Ugh, no way! This is so last year."

So, maybe they got a little off track - and maybe Selena found Demi's old guitar under her bed and a bunch of her old songs. So, maybe, just maybe, Demi was pushed into performing them while Selena threw things at her almost jokingly.

The thing is, they had fun throwing Demi's belongings around and acting like they were best friends, acting like it was not even a week ago that Demi's hair was balled up in Selena's fists and her forehead was being rammed against the school lockers. Selena threw one of Demi's markers at the girl's chest - and luckily Demi caught it before it could hit her.

"Wohhh!" Demi exclaimed, standing up from the bed and slamming it to the ground with excitement, "I could so be a football player."

"You're delusional," Selena snorted, crossing her arm and grabbing the marker from the girl's fists, close to her chest still. The girl's knuckles brushed against the tight shirt Demi was still lying in, impossibly bringing a blush to even her fingers.

"I- yeah." Demi agreed, flinching a bit, but Selena held the marker, halfway in her fingers and the marker ring still latched with Demi's nails. Their eyes were locked to each other, deeply enthralled. Both had never taken the time to stare at eachother - Demi was too busy getting punched and Selena was too busy doing the punching. Selena jerked less than a centimeter forward, and Demi did the same. Now, they were only midges away from each other, completely mindless to their current position. Well, neither quite understood why, and they didn't process either.

And yet, they broke quickly away at the sound of the door opening below their level. Demi let out a jolt of energy, recoiling a bit, and then back when she came to realize what they had just... almost done. However, Selena blinked, but didn't mention it at all. Instead, she grabbed Demi's shoulder and pointed to the door, "I think your parents are home, we have to go!"

Demi stood, astonished - she was ignoring it? Maybe it wasn't that big of a deal to her. Nonetheless, she shook her head and pointed to her window, "They're gonna be downstairs, so they'll see us. We can just climb out my window."

"What? No! We're on the second story, you dope!"

Demi felt a little dejected from the comment, she had assumed they were at least friends now, "It's fine. There's a bush that cushions you on the way down."

"No. Way." Selena pushed, but winced hearing the footsteps. "Let's just go down and say that we were getting you your clothes and you won't bother them."

"Do you even know what they'll do to me?" Demi pushed, pulled the girl towards the window. "I promise it's safe. Here, I'll do it first!"

With that, she pounced from the window and into the bush below, the twigs crackling under where she landed. Smiling, she looked back to the girl with two thumbs-ups. Selena shook a bit visibly, swinging her front feet over the window with a few whines.

"Just jump," Demi urged, feeling a sickly feeling by being on her old porch.

Selena slid from her thighs to her rear, using her hands to shakily hold the window steady. The girl couldn't help it, she was afraid of heights… and nasty, untrimmed bushes!

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 **sorry its taking awhile for them to,,, b0ND... but i love character development so :^) anyways review if u want and uh have fun**


	6. Pearly

**hello there! i should probably note that uH these are not meant to be like, the REAL demi & selena, it's just meant to be an AU ! ofc, like, it's technically them but ayy dont sue me**

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Demi urged her again, giving a few looks of fear to the door in case her parents were about to burst through and grab her by the ear.

"Come on!"

"I am…!" Selena hushed her, squishing her eyelids together. Before she slid from the windowsill, she snatched the bag of Demi's clothes and belongings. Giving herself a slight pause to curse, she tensed up and slid off, into the bush below. Even during her less than a second fall, she screamed and covered her hands, ending up falling on her behind with a bit of cushion from moving her hands to her sides.

She let out a breath of relief and stood up, giving an angry glare to Demi. Demi smirked a bit, rolling her hand in a circle, "Good jump, I give it a six out of ten."

"Ugh," Selena rubbed the bottom portion of her back, squelching her face in pain. "You're so rude."

"Coming from you," Demi teased, placing both of her hands tightly against her hips, attitude fuming from herself. "Miss Locker-slammer."

"I thought we dropped that." Selena's face became eerily serious, some hurt mixed in - wait, hurt? Ugh, why did she have to be so complicated?

"I was just kidding!" Demi let out exasperatedly, moving her hands wildly, knocking the girl's earlobe accidentally.

Her pinkie-finger knocked against the pencil eraser that held in her earring accidentally, slicking it from the pierce and into the dew-brimmed grass below. Selena gasped, feeling her ear and then her neck, and then dropping to the grass to begin searching.

"No, no!" Selena cried hysterically, watching the pearl bead roll from the slightly-elevated grass to under the rickety porch and below.

Demi sighed lightly, shrugging absentmindedly, "Man, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to knock it, but it's under the porch now―"

"Go get it!" Selena yelled, pointing to the lift-up border of the underside porch. Demi guffawed, seeming to think she was joking; however Selena's serious aura shocked her when it hit.

"Seriously?" Demi raised an eyebrow, locking eyes with the spiderweb-painted rim, peces of swept mulch and snake skin littering around the fold. Demi choked down bile, the putrid smell maliciously tickling her nostrils.

"Please, you have to," Selena begged, standing up and looking at her with hopeful eyes, "Those earrings are my lucky charm, please!"

"Mmmf…" Demi thought, letting out a muffled cry from her lips before dropping to her knees and crawling under the lip of the porch. Selena hopped excitedly, moving to a squat so the bottoms of her legs brushed against the grass and her elbows rested on her arched knees. Selena silently cheered her on, watching the girl's shoulder-swept hair glimmer and disappear from her view.

 _Sneeze_. "It's dusty down here," Demi had to be permitted to whine, right? _Sneeze._

" _No…"_ Selena heard Demi whimper, and then let out the highest scream she'd ever heard, " _Spider!_ "

Selena winced back as she heard Demi slam her head against the porch top, shaking the floorboards harshly. In a matter of seconds, Demi had pounced from under the porch on all fours, swishing her fingers through her cobweb-flittered hair and leaf-littered clothes. She was stomping her feet wildly, a balled up fist at her side that was scratching her legs and the pieces of clothing that rid up just a bit from her prance.

"My earring…" Selena whimpered, feeling the empty, swollen hole that rested on her earlobe.

Demi unballed her fist, revealing the sparkly coral earring, the needle on the back slightly intact. Her palm was bleeding slightly from where the tip had pinched her, but Selena ignored it and gasped happily, bringing it from Demi's palm to her cheek.

"Oh, thank you! I'd hug you, but you're… gross."

Demi gave her a nasty look, picking a leaf from the top of her matted hair. Selena just smiled and ushered her to the car, even daring to open the door for her. Demi honestly didn't care, if Selena felt indebted to her then it wouldn't be much of a problem.

"I promise I won't swerve and dink around this time, yeah?" Selena offered, eyes sparkling woefully. All Demi could do was laugh throatily and nod, trying to not get any muck on Selena's seats.

"So, you'll actually be a responsible driver this time?"

"Shut up," Selena whacked her with the plastic shopping bag that held Demi's stuff, "Just get in… loser-who's-slightly-cool."

Demi let out a gasp, shrugging her shoulders surprisedly - It was almost unbelievable that they had gone through such a big transition in a matter of days. Swerving and fast-paced braking scared the shit out of her, and Selena sure as hell knew it. So, Demi would be sure to keep on Selena's good side for now.

* * *

 **im sorry this was a big short chapter! i didnt mean for it to be, it kinda just happened bc i had to end it here if i wanted the next chap to be nicely organized :^) also, do you guys relate to Demi's spider phobia? i definitely do, oops**


	7. Special

**yall ready for some QUALITY BONDING TIME? (about TIME)**

* * *

"So, the earring?"Demi had inquired when Selena was already about to pass out on her couch―where Demi was supposed to sleep for the night. "What's so special about it?"

"Who says it's _special_ to me?" Selena stalled, head tilted back against the arm of the chair, legs peeking over the other arm.

"Um," Demi pointed to her still-knotted hair, dripping wet from the seven showers and stringy from the constant brushing. "This is why."

"Well…" the girl stalled on, leaving the other to cross her arms and wait. "How about you tell me why you got kicked out of your house, and I'll tell you why it's so special to me."

Demi sighed, in an angrily dejected way, but it was only fair if both of them shared secrets. Swiftly, the girl tapped Selena's head and shoulders to indicate to her that she should sit up and give her some space. Selena followed the signal after a glare, turning around to face the now-plopped girl.

"You… you go first." The wet-haired girl mumbled.

"No…" the sleepier, cleaner girl mumbled back.

"Yes…" Demi itched a false scratch on her cheek.

"No…!" she threw her hands forward in distaste.

"F-fine!" Demi pushed from her lips, but she regretted it immediately. It was so much easier to tell secrets when you _weren't_ going first.

It was funny too, because she was about to tell the worst secret of her life to not her parents―but to the girl who has been out to get her since fifth grade. Nobody even knew the seriousity of the words she was about to utter, not even her own doctor! So why… why did she want to tell Selena everything?

Demi's heart raced like a bunch of oil-spilling race cars, and she wanted to say something, she _wanted_ to say it. However, her brain was pulling their reigns of her tongue, not letting it venture and say what it needed to say. Selena grew seemingly impatient, eyebrows knitting to the middle of her face, but said nothing.

"I'm sorry, It's hard to say." Demi ducked her head, her shoulders tensing at the touch that she could feel on them.

"Don't worry."

It was so little, but it meant so much to her that she could feel the fuse of her broken firework of a heart sparking with orange flames. It meant so much coming from someone who had hated her for as long as she could remember. Selena seemed to give her a supporting glance, and she wondered…

 _Why did she hate me, anyways_? Demi could not stop herself from thinking. What had she done that was so horrible to turn Selena, who seemed to be very nurturing and loyal - into a rampant, stereotypical _mean girl_ that you'd always see in the cheesy chick-flick movies? Maybe Demi had done something so _unforgivable_ and _terrible_ that it had caused a metaphorical allergic reaction inside of S. Even so, why was she being so nice _now_ … could it be that it was only a game to the girl before her?

"These," she pushed her raw wrists up with immeasurable shame. "The doctor saw them."

Selena's lip sunk to push over her top lip, giving the girl's shoulder a squeeze, "So your parents decided to boot you just for that?"

"I wouldn't say it was _just_ that… but no matter! It's your turn," she desperately tried to change the subject, the feeling of sorrow radiating off of Selena was making her even more dejected.

"Pff, fine. Well," Selena let out a breath of hot air, and Demi felt it on her neck when she dipped her head and began. "I got them from my mom when I was ten. I always wanted my ears pierced, so she decided to take me out and get them for me on my birthday. Turns out, it was because she and my dad were getting divorced."

Demi softened, but didn't say anything until she finished, "The last time I saw her, I was 13 and moody… so when she came to visit I told her I hated her. I don't, at all, really―I was just scared… so she never came to visit again."

Demi couldn't talk, she had no place to. For now, the best she could do were supportive glances and small pats to the indents of her knee. The girl shrugged and finished her story, but Demi was too enthralled with how trusting Selena was with her, despite the fact of the constant, day-to-day harassment. It was something like, "After that, I wore them every day. They're the only thing I really have that has sentimental value to me."

"I'm sorry," Demi stiffened slightly, noticing tears beginning to sharpen at the tips of the girl's eyes.

"Bah, I shouldn't be crying," she tried to weakly smile, "You're the one with the worse story."

"Hey, we can still both have happy endings, though?"

"Mmm, yeah… maybe. Just maybe," the girl smiled sweetly. "Anyways, I'm probably gonna be moving apartments soon. If I can stand you by then, maybe you can come with."

"Oh…" Demi looked down for a second, and her mind carried on with what it had been wondering all along. "Why? I thought you hated me. Why are you suddenly so nice…?"

Selena shrugged, looking away and around her apartment. She slowly turned around, bottom lip tucked in her teeth, "I dunno, honestly."

* * *

 **you'll get selena's side of the story soon, do not worry :^) everyone will have a good time i promise hue**

 **review if u want, i'd be honored**

 **see you around, bud**


	8. Implausible

**i dont rlly know what this chapter is except character-building and school drama so have fun**

* * *

The entire apartment was silent, aside from the constant whirring of the engine beneath the compound. The pluggable air conditioner blew light breeze on Demi's uncovered legs, which had slipped from the blanket in the midst of her restless tossing and turning. It was no use, she could not sleep. The girl used her feet to pull on the cord, that was draped slightly over the leg of the couch. It came undone from the outlet, and the air conditioner grinded to a windy stop, now the apartment was even more silent than before. Demi hummed to herself just to make some relative noise, just to hear something other than her own heartbeat and the scattering of cars outside. She warmed her vocal cords up, she even chewed on the dull nubs that she called nails. She tried counting sheep, she tried fluffing her pillow and she tried imagining she was flying.

However, her body kept her awake, as if she were a 24-hour gas station selling half-melted slushies for two dollars. Her eyes drooped for a second, but shot back open if she so much as twitched her arm. Demi hummed again, wondering if she could lull herself to sleep like a soft-spoken siren. In the meantime, she had forgotten that Selena was a light sleeper, unable to sleep if there was anything unusual about the constant white noise around her. Demi had altered the noise quite a bit, by unplugging the air conditioner and squeaking the couch, humming to herself old nursery rhymes - so it was only natural that the girl emerged from her room, two fingers in her eyes like Demi had been banging pots and pans.

"Could you… not?" Selena breathed, her slippers making light poofs against the wooden floors.

"Sorry, can't sleep."

"Why?" Selena asked, clearly trying to get her beauty rest.

"I dunno. I just can't." The restless girl couldn't help but shrug.

Selena scuffled forward to the girl, breathing out a bit before sitting next to her on the couch, "So what do you want me to do, sing you a song?"

"No…" Demi almost laughed, but it would break the beautiful silent whispers they were using.

"Okay. Then go to bed."

Selena moved from the couch after patting the girl's forehead, heading back to her room silently over the cracks and creaks of the floor. Demi sighed, but she pulled her blanket over her shoulders and turned to her side, luckily finding sleep a few hours later. Maybe it was because she had nothing else to think about, but deep sleep. Or maybe it was a small bit because Selena told her to.

* * *

Demi rolled to her back, whimpering at the face above hers, a scolding look breezed against it. of course, even with her blurry vision, she knew it was Selena urging her to get up. The problem? The sun was barely peeking over the ground, and the orange haze was only beginning to fade into the black remains of the night sky. Why did Selena have to get up so fucking early? It was Sunday - wait…

"What day is it?" Demi shot up from the couch, rubbing her eyes wildly.

"Monday," the girl answered dryly, taking a sip from her coffee. With that, Demi shot up further and to her feet, pacing around the back of the couch in fear.

"Wait, so there's school?"

"Are you new to this?"

"Ugh, I just don't wanna go." Demi breathed into her hands, using her pinkies and leverage to pull her eyelids down.

"I'm not gonna tease you anymore," Selena stirred some creamer into her coffee, "So you'll be fine."

D's eyes popped open, and she looked to the girl and then back to her hands. However, whatever she was contemplating seemed to rule out in her head, so she sighed. "No, you can't, you'll be crucified."

"Why's that?"

"Remember Sophie? She tried being my friend for about a week and the entire school shamed her for it, nobody even talked to her. She had to move schools, Selena." Demi explained vividly, remember the blossoming feeling of happiness when someone talked to her like Sophie did.

"Right…" Selena shrugged, "Whatever. It's not like I'll announce some sort of engagement with you, I'll just leave you alone."

"Mmf, fine," she agreed slightly. "I'm gonna go get ready."

* * *

The two girls sat quietly in the car, the radio thumping and rattling in the box of the car. Even though cheesy pop music was ringing in D's ears, it felt like unmovable silence was packed around them, like they had just got into a car crash and the airbags of silence were smothering her and rubbing against her face.

"Y'know," Selena attempted to joke, "I didn't know you took 2 hours to get ready. You're lucky I woke you up at 5:30 am now, right?"

Demi didn't respond, only briskly nodding and trying to shut off the world. She was afraid to go to school, she was afraid how people would treat Selena if they even saw her in the same car as Demi was. Before, if they were even deskmates in a simple class, Demi would have to leave class early for injuries and having a breakdown.

Trying not to seem like there was something wrong, the girl glanced from the window as they parked in the lot, eyes widening when some of Selena's friends walked by, taking account of the misplaced girl inside the car slowly but surely.

"Uhm… I hate you!" Demi screamed suddenly, making sure the girls could hear it.

"What? What did I…"

Trying to keep the act up―she knew they were staring now,―she let out another yell, "You have the nerve to put me in the hospital then pretend to be my friend just to mess with me emotionally! You're just the same as everyone else, you're horrible! You're no better than the sluts that parade through the hallways!"

Demi moved her face to the side, making sure Selena's shocked face couldn't be seen out of the window. Demi begged the gods Selena would insult her, just this once! It was the only time the girl would ever beg for something like this to happen, but it needed to happen. Just for the small bit that her friends were passing by.

Meanwhile, Selena's face was curled into deep, unreadable sadness―even tears were beginning to form. Why was she crying, you might ask? The truth is, she didn't really know―she just knew that she had came to trust Demi with even the secret about her pearl earrings, and now it was spilling. The passenger-seat-rider turned to her window again letting out a sigh of relief when she noticed that the girls had left and probably thought nothing out of the ordinary. When Demi turned back around, her eyes gaped at the tears spilling down Selena's cheeks.

"Woah, I'm sorry! I didn't―"

"Don't even talk to me!" Selena blurted, rubbing her tears away with the backs of her wrists. She attempted to grab the handle of her car, but a force pulled her back from her opposite arm.

"Selena, wait! I was just trying to save your reputation, some girls were watching us and―"

"Don't talk to me!" the crying girl bursted, finally breaking from her grasp and running into the school dejectedly. She could just not believe that Demi had done such a thing―and covered it up with such an implausible lie. Why would her friends be listening in on her conversation, anyways? It was so… stupid! She was stupid. Everything was _stupid!_

* * *

 **thNK U for reading,,,, yknow what i gotta do**


	9. Bruises

**hello! this is my shortest chapter yet so oh no, anyways i hope this isnt too cliche- actually, i know it's cliche, but it's cUTE, OKAY. . . . . . .**

* * *

The girl rushed into the bathroom, trying to wipe away her tears with the brown paper towels that ended up scattered on the bathroom floor afterwards. Luckily, she had managed to use a bit of emergency concealer to shade away her puffy eyes and some eyedrops to cut the red lines into white, polished streaks.

"Hey, Selena!" A voice echoed against the room, and she smiled at her entering friend. It was Taylor―someone she had always thought of as a protective older sister.

"Hi," Selena almost said weakly, but pepped up her voice before Taylor could get on her case about it.

"Nice job with the Demi thing," Taylor complimented, giving the girl a slap on her back, "We heard her yelling at you in the car. We were skeptical at first, thinking you were actually being _nice_ to her, but that's crazy now that I think about it."

"You… heard that?" Selena perked up, fear blotting her face. That meant that Demi had been truly trying to help her - that she had blown on her up for nothing!

"Yeah, what a drama queen!" Taylor mocked, smiling evilly. However, Selena stayed quiet, eyes wide as night-time saucers. If only Taylor knew how much of a drama queen _she_ must've seemed like at the time.

"I have to go to class, I'm sorry Tay…" the big-sisterly-figure seemed awfully malicious now that she was _slightly_ friends with Demi, and she was starting to question her entire friend choices. Couldn't let that happen, or else a repeat of the car scenario could happen. Right now, though, she needed to find Demi. Not because, like, she cared… or _anything_ … It's complicated.

"Oh, kay. See ya 'round," the girl began to fix her makeup in the mirror, "By the way, Jennifer and Rebecca are kicking Demi's ass for what she said to you in the car."

" _What_?" Selena spun around on her heals, heart running from her rib cage and swamping into her hips. No, no way! Sure, before it wouldn't have bothered her - but now she had seen what all the bullying had done to the girl, and it only felt like pure murder.

Taylor slumped her eyebrows, confused at the girl's worried expression. However, Selena covered it up quickly; "Only I get to kick her ass!"

Taylor chuckled and pointed to where they were, not taking her eyes off of her peachy-lips and sparkling eyeshadow. Selena didn't care, she had sprinted off in the direction, pain edging every single last one of her steps. The hallway split into two, and she looked left, to right, right to left, until she heard a soft whimper coming from the right side. Now - the location was exactly painted in Selena's mind; the girl's locker room.

Exactly where Selena had gone too far last time, ramming Demi's head into the metal lockers on the wall. It caused her a few cold shivers, but she stopped when she heard another whimper, followed by a sharp yell: "Would you fucking shut up? You're lucky we're not slitting your throat for insulting Selena like that."

"Wait!" She screeched suddenly, bursting the door open without a moment's hesitation - no, the hesitation came after.

"Oh, hey," Jennifer greeted calmly, her boot clung to Demi's chest and Rebecca was holding the girl's arms back against the floor.

Demi's entire face was re-bruised, even lumping over the makeup she had borrowed from Selena. _Dammit,_ that was expensive. No matter, though, real issue: Demi.

"Stop, stop!" the girl waved her hands to her friends wildly, pushing them away from Demi, who seemed to keep her eyes shut like pieces of glass with crystal tears glossing the tips. The girls stopped, confused; eyes held wildly on Selena.

"I'll finish her up myself," Selena cracked her knuckles, leaving the two to contort their frowns into wicked grins. Parting goodbye, they wished her only the… _purest_ of luck and insisted that she beat her face in. As soon as earshot distance was a thing of the past, Selena lifted the bruised girl up to the benches, rubbing the back of her knuckles against her pale, purple cheeks.

"'I'm so sorry." Selena cried, overwhelmingly emotional, "I was so stupid. I thought you were lying. But you really tried to protect me."

Demi quivered open her eyelids, shutting them soon after she had received the strength to slit them open. Selena didn't care, however - the slightest sign that she was alive and functioning was enough. The more popular girl carried the girl - who was very _heavy_ for Selena's weak arms, might I add - back to her car silently. She could care less about the classes she was missing, she was more concerned with the injured girl who was stuffed into her backseat.

* * *

 **trying to create a still thin barrier between the two before i actually begin to start developing their more-than-friends relationship, i know it's been a long time but! i promise when it happens, itll be wild. anyways, review if u want and ill see u around buddy**


	10. Art

**helo! welcome to this huge mess that i made, anyways ive been trying REALLY hard to not make this cliche af, i know it honestly already is but... im tryING MY BEST OK**

 **im big unsure if I want to make this m-rated as well but we'll see when it gets there**

* * *

Demi's head was shaking inside her body, the skull thumping against itself the more she attempted to open her eyes. Her lungs felt squashed and her body felt like a mix of black and blue lumps - but she still tried to get up. She was laying in Selena's bed, the covers pushed to the side of the bed and slowly sliding off. Her clothes were damp with fresh sweat, and she was sure that she could wring out the perspiration in her clothes. It was around 1pm, and she was sure that she last remembered it being 11am, and being at school… _God,_ school.

The girl could only remember from there, trying to follow after Selena after she ran off and instead being pulled away by two gruff-voiced girls, bombarded with fists and slaps and countless insults. If she was at Selena's apartment, though - it could only mean that someone put her there. She remembered being so tired and weak that even her tongue was wobbling to hold itself up.

Demi reminisced, finding herself back in the locker room again, except she remembered a voice that had yelled stop and held her so purely and so dejectedly. Of course - the girl flicked herself in the head for not knowing sooner - Selena had brought her back home. Demi's uncontrollable guilt washed over her, the girl had said some really mean things to her and yet she had still helped her. What mattered now was not her own wounds, but instead her newfound friend that she was determined to not lose.

However, Selena was nowhere to be found - nor was her backpack. _Must've gone back to school_ , Demi sighed longingly, wondering how she was ever going to thank the girl for what she'd done. Make her dinner? Clean the house? Ugh, they all sounded _wrong_. Everything sounded wrong.

Instead, an overwhelming need to sleep ran over her like a looming stormcloud. Demi had tried to fight it but ended up succumbing to it in the long run of eye-pinching and knee-bouncing.

At school, Selena's sweat was covering her face - she was sitting in the back of her Art Class, trying to pay attention to the rambling teacher who was practicing shading in the front of the class. Selena could not focus, she kept glancing to Demi's empty seat that she would always throw paper airplanes at that contained mocking insults and scribbled jeers. Taylor was sitting next to her, watching her with concern and a harsh gaze.

"Pay attention." Taylor nudged her with her elbow, which jolted her right from her long stare at the empty seat. "You keep looking over there; where is the punching bag, anyways?"

"Uhm…" Quick, Selena, lie! "Yeah. I beat her up real bad and sent her home for the day, I'm just scared she'll tattle."

"We'll cover for you if it comes to it," Taylor assured, giving her a thumbs-up and then directing her attention to the teacher.

It was the last class of the day, so Selena just had to push through it. She was only worried about how she had left Demi alone in the apartment, in such critical condition. She couldn't stay, though, because Mr. Smith would destroy her with bad grades if she missed another one of his classes. He was cool, and all, but he was very strict about kids who skipped class. Even if Selena could be considered a _bad girl_ , she didn't want to disappoint her dad. She could just imagine her dad getting an email from the school while hiding behind a bush during a military battle, his gloved hands swiping down to read every unsettling detail. His eyes becoming saucers when he reads that she wasn't doing well in her classes, and then _boom_ \- shot. The thought terrified Selena, so she tried her best to do good.

When the bell rung, Selena shot up from her seat and ran to her locker, Taylor trailing behind in a high-heel-stumble-run.

"Selena, wait…!" Taylor gasped, stopping once she ended her sprint at her locker. "We still doing the weekend sleepover?"

Selena had forgotten completely, _ugh_! The girls would be so disappointed in her when they learned that she couldn't host it this time, but they'd be even worsley disappointed if they found out Demi was living with her.

"Sorry, Tay," Selena apologized, bringing her backpack strap to her shoulder. "I can't this weekend. I'm sorry."

And with that, she ran. She couldn't let Taylor interrogate her, or else she'd break! Taylor was _super_ good at getting people to talk, and that was why Selena, and Demi, were so scared of her.

* * *

 **i know it's short im SORRY i just need to save the next stuff for the next chapter so it's organized**

 **thank u for reading and staying this long like wow ? queen**

 **ALSO! next chapters will be longer i big promise im just ... dying rn**

 **review if u have the time pls ! i will update nonetheless but it makes me happy so :^)**


	11. Cute

**so im currently** **listening** **to** **California** **girls for no reason while writing this so uh? yeah let HOP INTO THIS + get ready for some fat bonding**

 **ALSO! i found out that chapter 6 & 7 were the same document, n that's bc im dumb and uploaded it twice. chap 7 is fixed now tho if you wanna jump back to it and read it !**

* * *

Demi laid face-up on the bed, bored out of her mind. Her nap had filled the void just a slight bit, but now it seemed like the world had stopped spinning and the sun had stopped glowing, just staying still like a polaroid picture shining on her wall.

The door creaked, and the girl shot to a sitting-position, excited to hear a noise other than the occasional hum of trucks and honks of busy traffic cars. Demi ran to the door, eyes sparkling when an equally as worried Selena stood in the doorway.

"I'm sorry," Demi pushed from her mouth before Selena could say anything, "I shouldn't have said those things to you, they were mean and I don't blame you for getting angry."

"No, don't! Blame me, blame me right now!" Selena pointed a finger at her, lip pouting.

"What?"

"It's my fault. I didn't believe you and I overreacted. If I had been there and forgiven you, they would've stopped themselves from hurting you… and…" the girl sighed, pressing her wrists against her chest sadly. "I'm sorry."

"No, I am!" Demi retorted, believing that she was at fault. "Let me apologize."

"It's my fault though!"

"Is not!" Demi shot back.

"Is too!" Selena brought her hands to her hips.

"Is not!"

"Is too!" Selena's face burned with anger.

"Is too," Demi smirked as she repeated what Selena had said.

" _Is not_!" Selena yelled finally, stomping her foot, but then recoiling slowly after she realized what she said.

"See, I told you it wasn't your fault."

Selena firstly gaped her lips, but then shrugged, "You still said 'is too,' though!"

With that, Demi laughed just a bit, unable to refute that. Maybe they were both at blame, then. Demi voiced this, and Selena just nodded and slumped onto the couch, a long sigh escaping her lips.

She couldn't help but join Selena on the couch, her knees pressed against her chest and socked toes wiggling when she flicked the TV to a movie. It was like a mutual, unvoiced agreement to watch a movie. Demi assumed that it would be something _cliche_ , like a rom-com or a black and white chick flick about high-heels and gold lipstick. Instead, it was a scary movie that had came out in theaters less than a year ago.

"Really?" Demi asked skeptically, laughing at the warning before the movie.

"What?" The other girl turned, seeing no issue.

"It's not even October yet!" She rolled her eyes at the enthralled girl, who was waiting eagerly for the movie to start.

During the movie, Demi ridiculed it to its _grave_ , making fun of the killer's obviously fake knife and the victims' chests still moving after they were supposed to be dead. Every time, Selena would turn and glare at her. The lights had been turned off at the beginning of the movie, but Selena's excited face was lit up by the TV shimmers. Selena was _somewhat_ fine with Demi ruining the plot of the movie, but then she said something _unforgivable_.

"The couple is so stupid. You're about to die and you're saying you love each other? The murderer is gonna hear you!" From this, Selena gasped and paused the movie, turning to her angrily. " _Hey_! I was just starting to have fun."

"It's _cute_!" Selena retorted, turning around so that she faced the unentertained girl.

"No it's not!" The other girl protested. "I find nothing cute about basically killing yourself just to have a cheesy moment."

Selena narrowed her eyes, opening her mouth to say something, until the apartment lights flickered off and the paused TV turned to loud static. Demi jumped up to her feet, backing into the couch.

She stuttered, "W-what is this? What happened?"

Selena smirked wildly, knowing that the construction outside had probably cut the power short. Every other day or week, the construction workers would accidentally dig up a wire cord to the power and either break it or unplug it - but Demi didn't know that. Now, Selena could be a good almost-friend and tell her it was nothing, but Selena was a lot more petty. Trying eccentrically to prove her point, Selena screamed loudly, causing Demi to bolt around to face her, but couldn't see in the dark.

"S…? Where are you?"

"Help me!" She screamed from the kitchen, holding back a guffaw. Demi sprinted to the kitchen soon after, running into a few walls in the unknown territory. Selena picked up a bottle of red food coloring, which she doted on the tips of her eyes and smeared around her face. While she did so, she clanged the hanging knives and screamed even louder. Demi finally stumbled towards her, and Selena decided it was time to put her plan into action.

"Demi! I love you!" Selena cried, collapsing to her knees dramatically. The whole thing made her think about getting into acting class, because _man,_ was she good!

Suddenly, the lights flickered on and the static ceased, revealing Demi's tear-dripping eyes and wobbling lip. It also revealed the food-coloring in Selena's hand and the rattling knives beside her. Demi breathed in shakily, wiping her eyes with her knuckles.

"Why... would... you do that? I was... so scared!" Demi took one of her knuckles and jabbed it against Selena's shoulder, sniffing up her tears.

"Now do you get how cute it is?" Selena asked, raising an eyebrow. Instead of answering, Demi punched the girl in the shoulder again, moving back to the couch angrily. The other girl followed behind her, a smile trimming her face. A light one, of course - but she unpaused the movie.

It was silent most of the way through, without any comments, remarks, or laughs from D. It was somewhat lonely, and the other girl couldn't help but to feel bad for what she did. When the movie had ended, and the couple had died holding hands, Demi looked over to Selena and sighed.

"Okay," she let out, "It's cute."

Selena couldn't help but break into a wild grin, thankful that she had convinced Demi of her point and that she wasn't _too_ mad at her. However, that was quickly rebutted when she turned and said, "But I'm taking your bed because you scared me."

* * *

 **thanks for reading :^))) im on a current kim possible mission to make this story not as cliche as my brain wants it to be so!**

 **feel free to review and have a good time,,? i dunno man but ill see u around**


	12. Ticklish

**next up on DISnEy CHaNNel,**

* * *

Selena obliged to Demi's terms, letting her sleep in the comfortable bed for once while she got the rickety couch. Immediately laying down, she missed her pillows and her soft comforter, she missed the scent of fresh blueberries that lingered from her shampoo. The girl tried to suck it up wiggling deeper inside of the couch to try and be comfortable. Demi exited the bathroom, her brownish-black hair tied in a messy bun and her pajamas wrinkling as she walked. They were a soft, creamy blue color with purple fuzzy spots and matching pants that ended at her ankles. They seemed to be a bit small for her, but Demi loved wearing them and Selena had to admit they were a little bit cute.

Demi's toothbrush was snagged into her mouth, running up and down her back teeth. She retreated back into the bathroom to spit. The girl heard running water and the creak of the faucet, before she came back out of the bathroom. Demi turned off the light behind her, pausing in front of the uncomfortable girl.

"I can sleep there if you want." Demi's voice perked up Selena's head, and the girl looked to the messy-haired girl, who had her hands on her wips and a bit of toothpaste on the side of her lip.

"No, I scared you, so I'll sleep here." The couch-barred girl protested, falling back against the bones of the couch wincingly. She had to look stronger than this, it felt so weird to see the person you always thought as weaker and below you standing tall and bigger than you ever were.

"I was just playing around," Demi laughed, tugging on her elbow. "Plus, I don't mind the couch. You, on the other hand…"

"You better get in my room before I throw you in," a little bit of bully-Selena came back, but Demi had an amused twinkle in her eyes.

"I have the upper hand here!" Demi outcried, digging her small fingers into Selena's abdomen, which she responded blankly to. "You're not ticklish?"

"No!" Selena laughed at Demi's embarrassed - and sad - face. "You weirdo. Okay, just for that, I'll go sleep in my bed."

Demi scoffed a bit, helping her out of the couch curve so that she could instead climb in. Demi murmured a goodnight, which was masked by a yawn. Even though Demi seemed fine resting on the couch, Selena still felt horrible leaving her there.

Something soft rested on Selena's hips, exposed from the way she had been flopped to her side, the tips of her shirt brushing against her ribcage and exposing a full view of her stomach. Tips of skin grazed her stomach, and they moved side to side, up and down before removing themselves from Selena's skin. Selena grumbled, not awake enough to process that somebody was touching her her.

The same fingers rested on the tops of her shoulders, sliding down to under her arms, which gilded against the silky skin. However, Selena didn't shake or wake up, only sat still and sunk further into her pillow, shooing the seeming phantom hand away.  
Once again, the fingers softly dripped against Selena's body, touching every piece of skin that was exposed and appropriate to touch. However, when the girl rested her fingers against the lobes of her ear, her lips curled into a smile. Fingers ran against the brim of her ear, resulting in a gentle laugh from Selena.

"Found it," a voice whispered in her ear, which easily brought her back to consciousness. Selena roared up her fist, socking whoever was so close to her ear. " _Oww!_ "

Selena placed both of her hands over her nose and mouth in shock, noticing Demi's clutched cheek, even though she was smiling under it. Selena flickered on the lamp, scoffing, "My god! Sorry, but why were you _touching_ me?"

"I wanted to find your ticklish spot," Demi glanced to the girl's ears, which she soon covered up with her hair sheepishly.

"Pervert," Selena retorted, crossing her arms. She was attempting to hide the blush on her face, mostly because she didn't even know she was ticklish on her ears. Things just _sucked_ right now!

"Am not!" Demi rebutted, reaching for the girls ear and wisping her fingers against it.

Selena curled down in laughter, bringing her right shoulder up to cover up where she was being tickled. Instead of moving, Demi laughed with her and continued to tickle her ear. Selena swatted her hands away, laughter still pouring from her lips. She ended up buckling back with it, trying to roll away or kick the girl away.

Finally, Demi stopped with a face-eating grin plastered deep in ehr features; while Selena scoffed in horror. She stuttered, "S-so what?"

"I know your weak spot," Demi sung lightly, moving her index finger side-to-side dramatically.

"Okay, shut up." Selena pushed the girl jokingly, falling back onto her bed with a grumble. "Can I go to bed now? You had your fun, it seems."

"Fiiiine," the girl voiced, the smile still eating up her face. "Goodnight, Sel!"

Selena gulped suddenly as the light turned off, leaving her in complete darkness. Nobody had called her Sel in a _long_ time, it was actually her mother who last did so. Selena declared that she hated the nickname after her mother had left, because it only reminded her of bad memories… and it sounded annoying!

With Demi, though; it was kind of cute. Ugh, the mixed feelings in her stomach were rolling up and creating a baby inside her abdomen, which kicked and punched at her every second it got.

I guess that makes it: Loserville, Population of Three.

* * *

 **WOAH! so as u can see im proceeding slowly into uncharted territories**

 **anyways thanks for reading, im still deciding how i want them to get together but we'll see?**


	13. Loca

**pass me my inhaler mary, im going d _own_**

* * *

"Okay, hold my hand," Selena raised her hand up, which Demi stared at blankly.

"What?" Demi reiterated, shaking her head in confusion. Was Selena asked her to hold hands? Skeptical as she was, the girl lowered her hand into the other girl's, sinking it to their hips.

"Here's the plan, if anyone asks, we found out we're long-lost-cousins and now we're cool. That way, we have a valid excuse to actually do shit without suspicion."

"Really? Just like that?" Demi scoffed, wondering if anyone would ever _actually_ believe such a thing.

"Yup, just like we did." Selena got her there - they _did_ make up fairly quickly for previous enemies. Without warning, Selena began to walk inside, yanking Demi's hand along with her.

Immediately, all eyes fell to the two girls, and the chatter even stopped to be replaced with gapes.

"She's my cousin!" Demi let out exasperatedly, so unused to have all eyes on her. Selena was hiding it really well, though, not sweating or freaking out, her hands weren't even clammy. (Demi jumped a bit when she remembered that they were still holding hands)

"Isn't she so cute?" Selena laughed lightly, ruffling Demi's hair with her other hand - a bit roughly for drawing more attention to them - and smiling gently. "We found out we were related yesterday. After that, we kind of made up! Please leave her alone for now, yeah?"

A chorus of 'aww's erupted through the crowd, slowly moving back to their old conversations, Like she had been holding all of her sweat in, Selena's hands quickly became clammy and she let out a breath of relief, pulling Demi along and towards her locker.

"You're so bad at lying," Selena condemned, scoffing wildly. "You're lucky I've got first period with you, it's gonna be rough."

Demi nodded, yelping when her hand was once again yanked and she was pulled off into the other direction. Selena carried on pulling her like this all through the hallways, the whispers getting louder and louder the more they walked. Selena's hand was somewhat cold, too, so it was just plain awkward in every stance.

"Cool, Spanish," Demi groaned sarcastically, breaking hands with her as they entered. The girl was ready to proceed to her spot in the back, but Selena followed her.

"Uh, your seat is up there," Demi recalled, remembering how the girls were always squabbling when they sat even a row apart from each other.

"I sit here now." The girl popped her bag atop of the table, pointing to it with a smirk. "My _mochilla_ is here now.'

"You're _loca_." She fought back playfully, rolling her eyes and sitting down. When the teacher entered, she automatically pointed to Selena's empty seat and snapped. The girls didn't blame her - whenever Selena tried to sit by her, it was always to mock her or do something stupid.

"Me and Dems are friends now," the girl's arm draped around her shoulder lightly, and Demi nodded in agreement, forcing a smile.

"Uh huh." The teacher wasn't convinced, her blouse wrinkled the more she crossed her arms.

"It's true!" they both exclaimed, leaving a small ripple of gigges through the class. The teacher could almost laugh, but held it back as she said; "Okay, sure. You still need to sit in your assigned seat, though."

"Please, Miss Martyn?" Selena practically begged, putting on her best cheerleader pouty-face. "We will work good together, and if there are any problems you can move us."

"Mmmh," Miss Martyn thought about it stiffly, but sighed. "Alright. But only for today."

Taylor, who sat nearby, gave Selena a confused, accusing look and passed her a note.

It read, _Um…? What do you mean you're friends with her?_

Selena quickly wrote back, _I found out were cousins. We ended up making up._

Taylor snorted audibly, but hid that it was her from the teacher. Taylor brought her pencil down and began writing again, _I'm not buying that crap. Tell the truth._

She was going to write back, but quickly decided against it when she saw that the teacher was keeping a locked eyes on her, glaring daggers into her skin. Intimidated, she flinched her hand and brought it over to Demi's thigh in fear.

"I think she's staring at me, Demi."

"No, _really_?" the girl retorted, not seeming to notice the hand on her leg that never really moved away.

Selena was totally right, the next periods were completely rough. Demi had second, third, fifth, and sixth by herself. Every period that Selena wasn't there, her friends would threaten her or the kiss would give her indescribable looks, ones that shook her to the bone with fear. As soon as class ended, she had to run from the room just to make sure that she could get out alive. Fourth period, she also had with Selena, but it was gym class and Demi always skipped. She would have to change in the locker rooms, and that meant… exposing her scars, and her body, which she was wildly uncomfortable with.

Then, seventh period began and Demi could finally feel just a bit safer. Next period was eighth after that, which she also had with Selena, and so she let her brain finally relax inside of her head.

She had English and then Art. English, then Art. She just kept repeating it on the way up the stairs, ignoring all of the rushing kids and laptop-carrying teachers. English, then Art. Her English class was on the very top floor, and by heart she took the long way just so she would never run into Selena.

English class started peaceful, with only seven students inside, but as soon as the rest of the kids came, it became a nightmare. Pushing, screaming, everything under the sky. Finally, Selena pushed her way through and made her way over, and through the day Demi may have forgotten that they were now friends. Because when Selena came for a hug - probably to make a scene, - Demi let out a gasp, but reluctantly hugged back. The class grew silent, mostly because they expected Selena to wrap her arms around Demi's spine and crush it in her hold, just to do it.

Smiling, Selena sat down on the opposite side of the room afterwards, and Demi couldn't help but seethe a bit at everyone who was still staring at her like she was nothing. Sure, she could be classified as nothing, but just because Selena hugged her meant that she was some sort of alien to these kids.

"Hello, Class!" her teacher exclaimed, breaking everyone from their thoughts. The teacher was interesting, to say the least.

Her face ran you as a widow who smoked 2 packs of cigars daily, but her clothes told you she was was a rebellious teenager who was claiming to run away with her boyfriend, 2 years old than her. Maybe it was the unanimous sleepiness between the class, but nobody could even tell her age.

There was also a student teacher who sat in the back of the room, who never really talked. Instead, he just scribbled down notes and fiddled with his shirt collar. Nobody really knew his name at all, he had one of those lisps, dark brown hair pulled back in a man-bun, and heavy, charcoal eyelids that made some believe he had been working non-stop, vigorously, for hours.

Although the class was eccentric, it was one of Demi's favorite classes - english was fun in general. The teacher didn't really are most of the time, so Demi would spend the time writing songs or thinking of a different universe. One where she was famous, even! It was really fun to think about, so she did it often.

 _Typical questions - "How are you doing, Demi?" Purely fantastic, I love my fans!_

 _"How was Joe's wedding?" Does he mean Kevin's wedding? Aha, silly paparazzi!_

 _Black-clad men with flashing cameras surrounded the girl, the ticks of the lights going off every second. Demi kept smiling, though, answering every question she heard._

 _"Are you friends with Selena?" a paparazzi begged, his camera shaking slightly._

 _"Yes, we're very good friends!" Demi exclaimed to the man, giving him a heart wrenching smile._

 _In the dream sequence, the man fell over and fainted with over-dramatic heart eyes, and the fans screamed even louder._

Okay, snap out of it Demi! She laughed to herself a bit, mostly because the man in her sequence had mentioned Selena, even if the girl tried to usually block her out of her dream sequences. The blood vessels in her face drained, realizing that she had called the girl her friend during it, subconsciously. Was she… really friends with Selena?

* * *

 **a pretty long chapter for all u boys, next chapter we're gonna ACTUALLY begin to delve further so**

 **anyways! pls review they're pretty cool and i love u all gotta blast**


	14. Candlelight

**ok! hello, this is the chapter where they are actually ? somewhat good friends**

 **i hope it didn't move too quickly, i tried to space this out so :^))**

* * *

"Get up." Selena shook Demi's shoulder, "Get up."

"No." Demi said firmly, wanting to continue the long-delved nap that she began when she got home from school. "I'm tired. _Muy cansada._ "

"Shut up, nerd," Selena pulled the girl off of the couch roughly, knocking her onto the floor with an unsettling _thump_. "Get up, I wanna go to _Candlelight_."

"The fuck is Dandlelight?" the tired girl groaned angrily, trying to reach for her covers but found they had already been thrown into a separate pile when Selena had tried to wake her up.

" _Candlelight_!" Selena corrected, hitting her in the shoulder with a pillow. "It's a super cool dance event hosted by the students, and there's none of those stupid school rules like we have at prom and homecoming. I wanna go really badly but I don't wanna go alone and everyone else I know was busy."

Demi paused, before yelling, " _I_ _was busy_!"

"Not anymore!" Selena sung happily, fluffing her curls and her dress that she had decided to already climb into.

"So, what? I'm your pity date?" Demi asked with a yawn, managing to finally stand up. The other girl scoffed and gave her a desperate look, which Demi eventually caved into.

It wasn't long before Demi was being forced to try on many different dresses, from strapless to frilly and short to literally tripping on the ends as she walked. Selena just had _so many_ dresses that it was hard to remember when it would stop.

"No more!" the frilled girl shouted as the girl appeared with another dress. "This is fine."

The girl gestured to her maroon-colored two-piece dress, with the frilly red skirt and the loose-fitted shorts under all of the frills. The top was coated in white and red sequins that faded up and down. It fit nicely on her, too, but Selena just scoffed.

"I guess. Now come on, let me do your makeup!"

Selena's dress was a nice pastel shade of both white and pink, the white top was fit tightly around her and looked as if it was a normal white shirt, until you noticed the light pink, ribbon belt around the waist. It moved into a skirt of the same pink, that had slight ruffles ending at just above her knees. It was so casual, nothing like something Demi would think she would wear.

The make-up was awkward, because whenever Selena's hand would brush against Demi's face, Demi couldn't help but feel out of place. Her makeup was never so extravagant, she mostly settled for concealer and slight blush. Selena pushed Demi's lips together as she painted candy-red lip gloss against it, smiling at her creation when she pulled back.

" _Beautiful_." Selena admired, making Demi's cheeks go pink without any blush needed.

"Thanks," she sheepishly whispered.

" _Not you_!" The dressy girl laughed, holding up a mirror to the other girl's face. "I was talking about my beautiful creation!"

Demi's face flushed a bit more, but tried to push out her stupidity as she stood up. She had to admit that she looked a bit better than she expected, but her expectation weren't too high in the long run. Selena slipped her fingers between hers and pulled her out of the door sharply. Demi barely had any time to process the shapes flying by her and getting thrown into Selena's car, because she was too busy staring at their interlocked hands.

Why was she feeling so weird? She should be happy that Selena was so open to her now, she should be happy that she was no longer getting her head shoved into the lockers. Instead, she felt incomplete - she felt… different. God dammit, brain.

The party was… way different than Demi expected. She'd expected actual candles, a disco ball in the middle and a slow song playing sweetly in the background. Instead, the floors were sticky and cracked tiles, the only lights were three-dollar hang-up lights that were essentially uncolored christmas lights. The songs were upbeat and rap music, with people grinding their pelvises against the floor and other people while some other couples shared makeout sessions on the dirty ground. The punch bowl looked disgusting, and there was even beer by the table, which everyone seemed to be grabbing freely. In another corner, thick clouds loomed over them, along with the buds that hung from their mouth. Demi turned back to Selena abruptly, gripping her shoulder in fear.

"We need to get out of here."

Selena just laughed, patting her head before prying her away. "Don't do that, you'll smudge my beautiful makeup. Why should we leave? It's fun here."

Selena waved to her friends, beginning to walk over - before Demi stopped her quickly. "Wait, I'm scared, I don't like it here."

"Just go talk to people, loser," Selena joked, proceeding to walk over. Now, Demi was alone in a crowd of underage drinkers and she didn't know what to do. Why would Selena ever want to come to one of these things?

* * *

 **thanks for reading ! this party is gonna be wild, i hope you're prepared**


	15. Reputation

**WELCOME BACK ? let's just hope into it i dont want to delay this any longer**

* * *

She wandered aimlessly through the crowd, afraid to drink from her punch cup. She was afraid it was spiked or poisoned, with the way it was bubbling and the way the white froth at the top was sizzling. She ended up dumping it in a corner that somebody had peed in, standing aimlessly by the dance floor.

The girl yelped suddenly, feeling something - or _someone_ \- grind up against her. The girl flinched away, turning around to lay eyes upon the shirtless man behind her, his curly blonde hair framing her sculpted face. Demi easily recognized him; someone who would always pick on her along with Selena.

"Holy shit," the obviously drunk man horfed, "Demi? Man… without all the sweaters, you're hot as fuck!"

Demi secretly thanked herself for remembering to cover up her leg scars with concealer and her arm scars with _literal globs_ of skin-colored lipstick. She smiled and thanked him, hoping he really would just go away. Instead, he rounded up near her, his hot breath tickling her neck as he attached his lips to the base of her neck.

Demi quickly flinched away, shaking her head wildly, "Ah, please don't! I think you have the wrong idea."

The guy raised his hands up in defense, nodding sincerely. "My bad. Hey, if you ever want a good time, though, hit me up."

He left with a wink, and Demi just whimpered and placed a hand over where his lips had been. She really hoped it wasn't going to leave a hickey, or something - that was something she did _not_ want on her skin.

The next guy to approach her wasn't _as_ sincere, she didn't even know who he was. Even with that in mind, he continued to rub against her thighs and waist as she stood, and Demi tried to ignore it. However, when he came closer and cupped her face, she had to quickly break away and step back. She tried to say exactly what she said to the other guy, but he didn't care.

"Mmm," he moaned into her ear, moving closer.

"Really, leave me alone…" Demi stuttered, pushing him away. He kept progressing, through, easily overpowering her.

"You know, I can make you feel _real good_." The man breathed on her lips, holding her face still even if she fought. She tried to raise her knee to kick him in the pelvis, but he had guarded it with his left leg.

He laughed at her futile attempt, "Don't worry, I'll treat you right…"

"Get the fuck off of her, Jeremy," a voice scoffed, pulling the force away from her.

Demi looked up, releasing some tears once she was finally away from the scary man. Selena had him by the hem of his shirt, pulling him away and sending him to her jock friends to deal with.

Demi sobbed once into her pale, bloodless hands and crawled into Selena's torso, gathering her in a mostly one-sided hug. Demi's head buried itself inside of the girl's stomach, knees sinking to the ground with hurt edging her sobs.

"What did he do to you?" Selena asked pathetically, patting the girls head―she still didn't really know how to comfort her just yet.

"I don't want to talk about it," Demi muffled into the girl's abdomen. "I just want to go home."

Selena pulled her up, patting her back and wrapping an arm around her, "Don't worry, I'll just stay with you the rest of the night. I can't leave yet, though, cause I promised I'd help clean up."

Selena kept her promise, staying with her the whole night. With her, nobody cared to approach her or force themselves to her. They mostly just sat by the tables, talking or making fun of the drunken dancers until the night came to an end and the red solo cups were rolling against the floor on their rims, bubbling alcohol fizzing out of them. The party lights were hanging and swaying off of the wall, the duct tape weakened by the constant beer-splashing and the time when a guy had drunkenly peed on the wall.

Of course, the party was still pretty bad, but the two girls took pride in the fact that they had managed to keep their face dresses relatively clean; the other girls had ruined their dresses so bad, the vomit stains and brown smearing of beer would probably seep through and stick to their skin as well. At least, that's what Demi and Selena joked about. Selena even slept on Demi's shoulder for a while, but was jolted awake not too long after when a guy shouted something stupid like, "Ate that pussy like shrimp-fried-rice!" **(I'M SORRY BUT I REALLY WANTED TO SAY THIS IN THE STORY)**

Other than the rampant horny teenage boys trying to grind against them, Demi had a fun time talking with Selena. She remember even Selena saying, "You're so much better than I thought you always were."

Of course, that was enough to make Demi's night as a whole.

Selena was crouched against the ground, stacking the cups up and shaking the liquid out of it, squelching her face. Demi rolled her eyes, "Let's just go home. You cleaned up enough cups."

"Bleh," Selena snorted, dropping the cups into the garbage. "I have to stay and help more. I have to keep up a reputation."

"Not like this loser would know, would she?" a snide voice called from beyond the dirty hallway, which _had_ to be Taylor. The blonde-haired girl had a man wrapped around her, clinging to her like she was his life. Demi assumed that they had only met today, as well, which made it worse. The girl was even giving Demi a nasty, dagger-shooting look.

Of course, all Demi could think was: _Shit_.

* * *

 **next chapter is gonna be wild not gonna lie, so get ready ! i also ! do not hate taylor at all, she's just the main antagonist in these stories so ? yes im stealing her for this oops**


	16. Didn't Mean To

**SUPER SHORT CHAPTER, but i think you will all be pleased!**

 **without further aDUE,,, HERE U GO**

* * *

"Hey Tay," Selena greeted happily, throwing away the last solo cup on the ground.

"Uh, shut up." Taylor snorted as if it were obvious, and Demi bubbled with anger at the way Selena's face contorted to a hurt expression. All she wanted to do was sock the girl right in the jaw for that; who gave her the right? From what she had seen, Selena cared deeply for her friends and it wasn't fair that Taylor thought she could walk all over her like that.

Selena was going to say something, obviously thinking about why Taylor had decided to become so mean. Quickly, Demi jumped in front of her new friend, fists balled up at her sides.

"You shut up," Demi found herself yelling back, angry that Taylor felt like she could just hurt Selena like that. It wasn't worth it to fight with her like this, but Demi couldn't stop her mind from doing it.

"Excuse me, _whore_?" Taylor hissed angrily, squinting angrily at the girl. "Do you fucking think you're special because you corrupted Selena? We all know you're not her cousin, nobody believes that shitty lie. I already texted, like, everyone that you lied. You're basically the laughing stock of the fucking school."

"Well-" Demi began, but stopped and looked away. Did she _corrupt_ Selena like Taylor had said? Not to mention, the waves of guilt pushed over her body - was Taylor telling the truth? Was Selena really the laughing stock of the school? If so, Demi would never forgive herself. Selena cared so deeply for her friends that even Demi knew that it would kill her to be unpopular. In fact, Selena probably wouldn't last one day without the constant waves in the hallway and full lunch table.

Selena shook her head no to the girl, giving her a few affirmative and soft pats on the back to soothe her. Even though the girl was visibly worried about Taylor's statement, she tried her best to comfort Demi. For some reason, it made her feel just a bit better. The girl had almost forgotten about the witch in front of them, until Taylor spoke again and turned her gentle face into an angry one again.

"You're a loser," Taylor glanced to her new-found man urgently, who continued on her unnecessary, petty insults.

"Double loser!" he indicated to Selena after some time of thinking, who wrinkled her nose in anger at his comment. It wasn't like it hurt, but his breath smelled of tartar sauce and rotten fruit. It stung Selena's nose, so she took a step back.

Unfortunately, the two snobs saw it as a surrender, so they grinned widely and evilly, they faces showing how happy they were to finally win. Demi guessed that they didn't get to win that often, especially against Selena Gomez, for Pete's sake.

The couple laughed throatily, sharing a quick pecking-kiss and walking away awkwardly, strutting but also tripping over their feet as they walked. Selena and Demi watched them walk off, frowns painted against their cheeks - and yet they smiled a bit. They smiled because after their kiss, Taylor's head slunk back and they could even see the bile rising in her throat from the terrible breath of the man. Selena turned around and faced Demi, her lips wobbling into a laughter-hidden smile.

Selena laughed, trying to dissolve the thick tension by mocking the couple, " _Yoou'reee a loooooser!_ "

Demi smiled widely at her antics, and the way she had stretched and pitched her voice to feign and mock the snooty girl. For some reason, it was so funny to mock people. They had already done it all night, so there was nothing new. Demi mocked back, rolling her head around in circles and lowering her voice, " _Doouuuble loooseeer!"_

Selena chortled harder, not thinking about what the next act was. Of course, Selena's brain was on overdrive - copying every single moment of the scene in her head. She subconsciously leaned into the girl, pecking her on the lips with her arm around Demi's shoulders. And she froze in place. It would be a lot easier to deal with if the girls hadn't completely hated each other a week ago, but they stood still. Demi's eyes were just as wide, the translucent red lip gloss that she managed to keep on her lips spotted with Selena's pastel pink lipstick.

"I didn't mean to do that."

* * *

 **im sorry for the CLIFFHANGER, MY FRIENDS ! but i hope that it was very satisfying, because it know how much is was to write lol**

 _ **are you feelin it now, mr**_ **krabs?**

 **see you, my dudes! and dw, this isn't the end !**

 **i also want you to know that i KNOW it took 16 chapters for them to even kiss, but I like character development ok,,**

 **i promise i will start throwing fluffiness at you now**


	17. Angel

**WELCOME BACK, i know last chapter was WILD so lets jump back in**

* * *

Demi couldn't breathe. Even though her pillows were lightly fluffed and her knitted blanket was so thin it was basically see through, her throat felt swollen.

" _You just…" Demi raised three fingers to her bottom lip, the gloss smudging her fingers lightly._

" _I didn't… I'm sorry!" Selena cried out, stepping away from the girl shakily. "i was just… I got too into the thing, and..!"_

" _It's okay," Demi tried to soothe, but it wasn't okay. She wasn't okay - her arms were shaking and her legs were pulsing. In the moment, time had slowed down. Demi knew quite well it was a peck, lasting less than a second - but it felt so different. It felt like an hour of their lips touching, it felt like an hour of… Well, Demi stopped thinking to herself with some supernatural fear that Selena could hear her thoughts._

 _Demi just couldn't wrap her head around it; the fact that she enjoyed the feeling. It sort of made her sick to think about, she made herself sick. Selena obviously wanted it to be a huge mistake; and here she was sexualizing it like Selena had slid her pants down in the middle of the room. Of course, that thought just pulsed her legs a bit more, so she came back to the situation at hand._

 _Selena looked worse than her, though, hand placed over her mouth with clear tears rolling over her knuckles, skin pressed into her jawbone. Demi reached over to comfort her in any way that she could, but Selena broke away and dashed. The girl couldn't even tell where she ran, because it was so far and fast. Demi assumed she made her way back to the apartment - but when she got there from a long walk, Selena didn't even have her bag or shoes by the door._

Demi had brushed her hair and teeth, took a shower, changed her clothes, and got ready for bed, but Selena didn't come back. Every once in a while, the lonesome girl would peer out of the window and see if any girl would come stumbling into the complex. No such luck; even when she went to bed, her brain kept her awake with worrisome thoughts about Selena.

The door swung open, and Demi froze. The light didn't turn on, but she heard someone kick the door closed and fumble in - a walk that Demi only knew as a drunk one.

"Sel?" Demi squinted through the darkness, hearing the girl hiccup and make her way over. "Bitch, I was so worried about you!"

"I got scared," Selena admitted with a hiccup, sitting next to the girl on her couch. "So I ran and… I dunno... I had a homeless man buy me beer,"

The sober girl laughed, "A little? It's okay, I'm just glad you're okay. The kiss was… a mistake. We all make mistakes."

"No," the other girl hacked, leaning closer. "I don't want it to be a mistake."

Demi froze in place; before she realized that Selena was most likely drunk and wouldn't be at her best. In fact, everything she was saying was most likely coming straight from her ass. What would be best would be to get her to bed and let her wake up by herself in the morning.

Being the good friend she was, she helped the drunk female onto her shoulder and heaved her into the bedroom. Selena dropped onto the bed, with a bit of help from Demi. Selena refused to let go of her shirt, however, pulling her closer.

"Yes, Sel?"

"I like when you call me that," she giggled with a swoon, patting beside her anxiously. "Sleep here tonight. That ol' couch is… broken,"

"Will you go to bed if I do?"

Selena thought for a second, bringing a cracked nail to her lip and then nodding vigorously, a smile eating up her cheeks. With a long sigh, Demi climbed into the bed next to her, yelping when Selena practically smothered her.

One thing never really changed, she guessed, and that was that Selena was a cuddlebug. That would technically make Selena the only _bug_ she wasn't utterly terrified of. Demi smiled at her comedic thoughts, pulling the cover up and over the embracing-girl's body, so that she could fall asleep easier.

Selena sunk further into Demi's abdomen, her arms clutched around her hips tightly. The girl let out a bubble of ecstasy, feeling warm and safe when she had something to hold at night. She often slept with a giant stuffed animal, but she never thought anything of it. Now that a person she somewhat cared about was next to her, it felt a _lot_ better than her old stuffed animals.

Demi practically could not believe that the drunk girl on her stomach was the same girl who had ruined her life; she could not believe it at all. Subconsciously, her fingers brushed through the girl's knotted hair, resulting in a purr from the girl below, like she was a tired cat. The sober girl couldn't help but smile at this, resting her hand in her curls lightly.

She refused to sleep all night, making sure that Selena slept well and that she was having good dreams. That, and Selena liked to squeeze her stomach a lot - which made it practically impossible to sleep. Even when Demi had tried to untangle herself to go and get some rest on the couch, Selena had let out the most pathetic whimper she'd ever heard. So, Demi stayed and watched over her, like a guardian angel - or a stalker if you're a pessimist.

* * *

 **GET READY; im gonna start fluffing this story like a bad hotel pillow LETS GO**


	18. Clingy

**RA! RA! RASPUTIN! hi welcome back im absolutely dead, i tried to make this BIG FLUFFY so hop right in**

* * *

"Ugh, my head," Selena let out a growl, curling further into the unnamed warmth on her bed. Wait, unnamed warmth? Her eyes snapped open, remembering the shit-pile of drinks she had last night and not much after that. She was honestly terrified that she had slept with someone random last night, when she had been saving herself for someone special.

She relaxed a bit when it was Demi, but still stayed stiff. Here she was, pulled against the girl she had accidentally kissed and left alone at that scary party. She didn't deserve to, at all, but she snuggled in further just to enjoy the warmth while it was still there.

She truthfully had ran off because she was scared that the kiss didn't disgust her as much as she assumed it would if she ever _did_ kiss Demi. It wasn't like she, dreamed about it! She just had a moment one day and laughed at herself for it and never thought of it again. Now, though, she couldn't get it out of her mind. It was so surreal, and Selena may have even liked it a bit. Right now, though, she wanted to forget it all and cry.

"Are you up?" A groggy voice sounded in her ears, who she automatically recognized.

"Mhm…" Selena mumbled, which came out a lot different than she wanted. After all, her face was pressed against the girl's stomach. She felt a hand run through her hair, and she shivered in surprise - wasn't like it was unpleasant, just surprising.

"Do you want me to make you breakfast?"

"No, I'm warm." the girl blurted before she knew what she was doing, but luckily she heard Demi laugh.

"You'll still be warm, You'll be in a blanket burrito." Demi tried to encourage, mostly because she was sure her legs had lost all blood circulation, and she badly wanted some pancakes.

Truthfully, Selena didn't want her to leave, but gave in and nodded against her stomach. When her face and arms were detached from the girl's body, she felt an overwhelming sense of sadness and dejectedness, not to mention that the cold breeze from her fan felt so wrong without Demi's body there to combat it.

Meanwhile, Demi had popped four pancakes in the toaster—because she was all about classy breakfasts—and waited patiently for the timer to ding. She wondered silently how Selena was doing, and if she would have the be the friend that held back her hair when she vomited in the toilet.

The timer dinged not too long after, the floppy pancakes popping up and crackling just a bit. Demi noticed the slightly-fading black edges, crispy and breaking when touched. She shrugged an 'Oops', and bit off the black edges carefully on one of the pancakes, planning to give the slightly better ones to Selena.

"What did you do to those poor pancakes?" Selena asked with a gasp, eyeing the slightly burned edges.

"What?" Demi smirked, "They're Chicago style."

The hungover girl rolled her eyes and chewed off half of the pancake with rumbling hunger, moaning with ecstasy when she felt the food land safely in her stomach.

"I didn't know you were into food porn," the sober girl laughed.

Selena looked up with pink cheeks, flinging a fluffy white pillow at the girl's face.

"Y'know, you still didn't tell me exactly why you ran out back there."

She froze, but tried to recover, "I was just scared you hated me or something. I assume I was clingy last night, so that's probably a result."

"Damn right you were clingy," Demi confirmed, finishing her pancake with one final gulp. However, Selena had already finished her other three with immense hunger.

Selena rolled her eyes, standing up and feeling her legs wobble. The girl let out a whispered, 'Shit', and practically fell into Demi.

"Okay, calm down you _fawn_ ," Demi laughed, indicating that she had stumbled like a baby deer trying to walk for the first time.

"Sorry," Selena sighed, her nose brushing against the girl's collarbone as she sat up. Demi just smiled and helped her to stand up properly, wanting to laugh _very_ badly. However, she held it back and finally got Selena to stand up still without wobbling and latching onto her shoulders.

Selena could not mask the blush on her face, it was so evident that even a colorblind person could make it out. Trying to desperately change the subject, she tried, "Shouldn't we be at school?"

"I called you in sick," Demi answered with a laugh, "I don't know if you remember, but at six in the morning you kept me in a hug all while I walked to the couch to get my phone and call in."

"God dammit," Selena cursed herself. "Remind me to never get drunk again."

"Sure thing, Sel." the girl blushed, and Demi made the hypothesis that she was telling the truth when her drunk self told her that she liked it when she was called Sel.

Selena sighed, looking to the warm bed and then to the warm person in front of her, smiling happily. Demi cocked an eyebrow, following her gaze.

"Let me guess, you want to be warm again?"

Selena nodded, giving her best pleading face. Demi shrugged and punched her lips together, trying to fight back a smile.

"I dunno, why should I? You don't seem drunk anymore." she shrugged absentmindedly, turning away and then back.

"Cause you're warm… and you uh…" Selena thought, giving her a weak smile. "I'll tell you why I was so mean to you?"

Demi thought about it for a second, before releasing herself into the bed, arms open. It was obvious she was instructing the girl to climb into her wide arms, fingers wiggling in expectancy. Selena gave in reluctantly—she mostly just wanted to hold something and get some more sleep—relishing the feeling of Demi's arms around her once she had climbed in.

"Spill," Demi shook the girl in her arms, which Selena chuckled at. Suddenly, she didn't like her idea anymore.

* * *

 **here we go! next chapter you'll hear Selena's side :^)**


	19. Books

**HELLO ? IM PUMPED AFTER WRITING THIS CHAPTER I HOPE YOU HAVE FUN READING IT LOL**

* * *

 _Selena sat angrily at the bench, seething silently at the girl who ran around the playground happily. It wasn't fair that she had so many friends, it wasn't fair at all._

 _Selena had started her hatred for the girl only yesterday, when she helped her pick up her books, even though the whole school thought she had cooties. When she asked why, the girl only smiled and waved goodbye._

 _Then, she tried to play with her at recess, and her friends simply laughed and pulled her away. Though she looked back at her sadly while being pulled again, Selena could not help but feel upset. That was where the origin of it started, and it only grew the more she watched her play happily with her friends, the better she got along with everyone._

 _That day, she managed to pass on the cooties to some other girl named Emily, and proceeded to the other kids. They welcomed her now, because she was no longer the outcast—and Demi seemed especially happy. They would play everyday, even though Selena never really talked. Deep inside, her rage was balling up and growing larger. Demi continued to make more friends, which just angered Selena more. It burned her to know that she had such an easy time making friends, while Selena had never even_ _ **had**_ _a true friend._

 _In heat of the moment, Selena swooped in and stole the girl's boyfriend, spread nasty rumors about her, got her in trouble with a lie, and watched her social life collapse. She watched the boys she used to hold hands with in a friendly way flick her behind the head, pull on her pigtails, and chase her off with insults. She was so busy watching her hatred satisfyingly pour that she hadn't noticed the social hierarchy building around her, how she soon became the queen of elementary school and how Demi slowly became the peasant._

 _During the summer before sixth grade, Selena assumed that the girl would get ugly, and she would leave her alone. Inside of her was a bit of regret for what she had done, but she would never admit that personally. However, when she got to sixth grade—she found herself repeating the same phrase. It isn't fair! Demi's face had blossomed, and even the gap between her front teeth was charming and pulling. Her freckles shone in the light, and her straight hair was alluring._

 _Boys and girls were surrounding her, and Selena just couldn't help herself._

" _Hey, loser," she said, and Demi turned around with confusion in her eyes. "I see your rash cleared up."_

" _S-Selena?" Demi whimpered, recoiling back from the laughter of the crowd._

" _In the flesh. Which, by the way, I'm so glad that you put some clothes on yours and stopped whoring around the boys like you did in fifth grade."_

 _It picked up from there, and by the end of eighth grade, the sunny, outgoing, dress-wearing girl had turned into a sweater-crazed, black-eyed introvert who nervously shuffled through the halls and avoided eye contact. Selena did not look at her as she passed by, because she would get an overwhelming sense of guilt. So, she stuck her chin up and kept walking, pushing her to the side as she did so._

 _She got everything she wanted, an easy way to make friends and Demi Lovato crashing to the ground—but she was not happy. Because even though her head was down when she walked and her dark makeup shaded her features, she was still better than Selena ever would be._

"All that…" Demi breathed, "Just because I helped you pick up your books? I don't even remember that."

Selena felt awkward being in her arms still, expecting the girl to throw her out and onto the floor at any moment. Instead, she felt the girl pull her closer to her chest.

"It's sort of cute that you kept going because you thought I was pretty," Oops; Selena had forgotten that she told her that part.

"Ugh, Demi, I'm sorry. I basically ruined your life, I don't deserve to be warm." Selena tried to stand up, but Demi restricted her with a laugh.

"Hey," she kept one arm around the girl's waist, the other stroking her hair. "But I'm okay now, and we're friends."

Selena breathed out, letting herself sink into the warm girl behind her. It was like she had some sort of uncontrollable lust for warmth today, because all she wanted to do was rest in the girl's arms and never leave.

Unfortunately, though, she forced herself to scoot away and face the girl. Selena breathed, "You're sure you're fine?"

Demi nodded humorously, booping her nose, "Yes, I'm fine, babe—"

She didn't mean to say babe; it just happened. Demi attempted to dissolve it with laughter, taking notice of Selena's crazed face.

Selena leaned closer, pausing as their lips brushed slightly. Demi sucked in her breath, meeting Selena's gaze - it looked as if she was waiting for validation, a sign that she could move just one centimeter closer. The two had a single ounce of doubt in their minds, that told them it was wrong to be so close - and Demi swore that the necklace with her promise ring on it was seething through her skin at the sin she was committing. A girl, so close to another girl, the skin of their roseate lips brushing and only their heartbeat audible in the quiet room. It felt normal to her but yet terrifying. For a second, everything paused, it was just them and the heavy breathing that they both could feel from each other. Demi slowly tilted her head, moving closer to seal the minimal space between them. The two paused for a second, as if it was normal for the two to be lip-locked - but Demi came to her head-pounding senses first. She fumbled backwards, eyes wide and hands quivering.

"Oh my God!" She caterwauled, tumbling back and out of the girl's range. "I'm so sorry! I don't even know what I was thinking, I just-"  
"Demi," Selena placed her hands on the girl's shoulders, scooting to sit on her knees. "I liked it."

Demi seemed to relax at this, her hands flailing over her chest. The other girl smiled slightly, leaning closer to give her another kiss; like the one they first accidentally shared.

And it was warm.

* * *

 **not the end! but nearing close :^))) i might make a sequel too but so many things and it's only thREE IN THE MORNING**


	20. Embarrassed

**WELCOME BACK ! ! ! ! ! ! AAAAAA, THIS CHAP IS ACTUALLY PRETTY FLUFFY (at least, at the most for rn!)**

* * *

" _Loser," Selena's top lip twitched angrily as she stepped forward, eyes full of fury._

" _Bitch," Demi shot back, meeting her step with another one of hers._

" _Whore," the first girl bounced back with another stride forward._

" _Slut," the second girl forced herself forward, their noses were barely brushing now._

 _Selena stopped the bombard of insults, moving forward and clasping the girl's face in her ivory-colored hands, her pinkies slid under Demi's jaw and her other fingers spread out lazily among her cheeks._

 _The girl pressed a kiss against the girl's lips, pushing her back into the lockers that appeared from behind them. Demi could not help but muffle a whimper, the harsh kiss cutting up her lips and melting away her chin._

 _From afar, the girl laughed evilly and gave a deafening smile, "Did you really think I would ever like you?"_

 _With that, she dug her nails into the girl's eyes and pulled the skin right off like dried glue._ The dream sequence broke away at Demi's kicking and thrashing in the bed, begging her mind to make it stop.

The beaming, neon green letters on the side of Selena's bed read a foggy "2:34 AM," and Demi's harsh breathing and rapid kicking had faintly woken the girl wrapped around her stomach and buried into her chest.

"What's wrong?" Selena trailed, a yawn pushing its way out of her expanded mouth. Her arms didn't move from the tight constrict upon her waist, but instead her head flopped to lay on its side against Demi's chest.

Demi breathed out, unrestricting one of her arms from Selena's hold and running it through her her greasy hair and over her sweaty forehead, before calmly putting it on Selena's head.

"Don't worry, just had a bad dream."

"Mmm," Selena moved up her arms to the girl's neck, prompting Demi to turn on her side.

After Demi had turned, the raven-haired girl scooted closer to press her body against the girl's back, arms thrown around the dip in her hips and cold nose pressed into the warmth of her neck. Demi shivered at the touch, but soon adjusted and relaxed into the new position. It surely was a lot more comforting than Selena being wrapped around her waist like a constricting boa… though she would probably settle for both.

"I'll protect you from those scary dreams," Selena mumbled into her neck, tightening her grip and pulling her even closer.

It wasn't too hard for the girl to fall asleep, apart from the fact that she couldn't rest her lips from erupting into a smile every time she remembered who was wrapped around her. Occasionally, the butterflies woke her up too—but she just kept cursing herself. A few months ago, the idea of this happening would have scared her to death—or confuse the hell out of her—but now she couldn't stop grinning stupidly.

Not that she could remember any part of her dream, but she was sure it was slightly better.

"Wake up, _loser_ ," Selena laughed, shaking her shoulders as the blaring alarm clock seethed her ears.

The name was mostly used as a joke between the two now, instead of an insult like Selena first used it as. Demi groaned and scooted back into the bed, forgetting that Selena's warmth wasn't there anymore. Because of that, she let out a whimper, but Selena didn't seem to notice her dilemma. Instead, she shoved her fingers to the girl's warm neck, causing her to yelp from the cold radiation they expressed.

Demi yelped and shot up, peeling the cold fingers from her neck with a whimper, "Okay, rude, I'm up…"

"Good," Selena smiled, latching fingers with her and bringing her to the kitchen, she a plate of eggs was sitting. "I'm happy, cause now I can finally use the extra chair I've always had but never used."

"Have you always been lonely?" Demi pulled out Selena's chair for her, which she beamed at, "Y'know, with nobody to eat with?"

"Kinda," the girl fiddled with her fork and the splayed bacon on her plate, "I guess you could say that."

Demi felt awkward, mostly because she usually skipped breakfast in the morning. However, she didn't want Selena to think that she wasn't eating because her food was gross, or that she had made the food for nothing. Soon, the girl was shoveling the food into her mouth, the eggs not even having a chance to fall through the slivers in her fork.

A soft touch on her knuckles paused her glomping, and Selena was holding back a giggle from the other side of the table. She smiled and laughed, "Are you okay?"

"Yes," Demi's cheeks flushed, imagining how awkward she must've looked. "I just didn't want you to think that I didn't like the food."

"You're fine." The girl bit into a piece of bacon, still slightly fighting back a giggle.

Demi quietly ate the rest of her eggs, feeling heavily embarrassed. She was scared of doing anything to upset the girl, since she wasn't even sure what they _were_. Were they a couple, were they friends with benefits? No, that one didn't seem right—but who was she kidding?

"What are we?" Demi voiced suddenly, gulping when Selena dropped her fork in surprise.

Selena silently recovered, wiping the corners of her mouth, "Woah, hitting me with that question in the morning."

"I'm sorry! I was just thinking it, and it just came out…"

Selena nodded, waving her hand dismissively to explain that it was okay. The girl let out a sigh, shrugging. "I don't know. I've never… liked a girl."

"Me neither," Demi implied, the sick feeling in her stomach growing.

"But, kissing you felt right," Selena noted, shrugging her shoulders and finishing her plate. "I also liked holding you, but… that might just be me being a magnet to warm things."

That didn't really boost Demi's self esteem too much, and it even made her feel a bit unwanted. Nonetheless, she carried her plate to the sink and nodded quickly, taking note of the time. The girl always took a long time to get ready, mostly because she never found her makeup perfect and would always have to fix it up.

"But, um," Selena started, grabbing the girl's wrist. "Even if… being a… _couple_ —for lack of a better word—doesn't work, I don't want to go back to the hateful relationship we had."

Demi turned, giving her a slight smile.

"You're pretty cool, Demi."

* * *

Mindless chatter filled the air as the girls reared closer to the school, before Selena stopped them both, lip crunched between her teeth.

"I'm scared, what if Taylor completely ruined my reputation? What am I gonna do?"

"Calm down, girl," Demi hyped, rubbing her shoulders like she was prepping her to go into a boxing ring. "You're Selena Gomez, for Pete's sake!"

"Can you," her voice broke. "Can you maybe stay out here for a bit when I go in?"

Demi's eyes hardened, and her fingers broke from the girl's shoulders, "What, are you embarrassed of me?"

The girl stayed quiet, and Demi gasped, stepping back, "Oh my God! You are embarrassed of me."

Selena turned around quickly, shaking her head, but Demi had already stepped away and towards the bushes. She cried, "Don't worry about me coming in at the same time as you, I don't even want…"

Selena's eyes softened, but Demi carried on with a hazy voice, " I don't even want a relationship with you anyways! We wouldn't wanna risk that perfect life of yours, would we?"

She stomped away, and Selena couldn't even got after her; she was frozen in place. Her feet were glued to the floor and her eyes were as wide as saucers.

"Hey, Selena!" she heard a familiar voice call, and she broke away from her personal life and smiled.

Taylor was running up to her, the bedazzled, designer scarf that Selena had bought her bobbing in the wind. Selena flinched back in fear, but Taylor gave her an apologetic look.

"I'm so sorry, Selena. My boyfriend just broke up with me and there was a lot of stupid shit going on," Taylor softened, "I took it out on you and I… I couldn't forgive myself. I'm sorry I accused you of lying, I know you wouldn't do that…"

Selena tilted her head and puffed her bottom lip, wrapping her friend in a hug, "It's okay Tay, and I'm sorry too. I actually did lie to you, I had a moment where I thought I could be Demi's friend,"

Selena glared back to where she had stomped off, the sadness inside of her turning into rage. "But It's stupid. She's stupid. I'm not bothering anymore."

Taylor smiled and grabbed the girl's hand, walking with her inside the school. It wasn't new, nobody truly cared - Taylor and Selena always held hands. They were friends, they'd known each other since the sixth grade.

But it didn't feel the same as Demi's felt.

* * *

 **the ending is a big sad, i PROMISE THEY WILL HAVE A RLLY CUTE MOMENT SOON ! I JUST NEED TO... DEVELOP**

 **and yes they will become a couple, just give me my inhaler and a bottle of apple cider**

 **anyways ! see you man, review if u have the time :^)**


	21. Sleepover

**HELLO ? yes! welcome back, this ep is a bit of 'realizing' for the characters so there's not really a lot of fluff but ... thought fluff if that's a thing? :^)**

 **ALSO! i know I posted this one right after the other one, I just didn't want to leave yall on that big sad ending :(**

* * *

Selena didn't know what she was expecting when she came back from school; she was leaving it up to fate to decide how she would feel. How she would feel if Demi was relaxing on one of the couch cushions with her torso twisted and her legs dangling off of the side, the remote control in her hands. But, Demi was nowhere—and Selena just sat down and waited.

She never came. Only silence masked the room, and Selena's head was now flung back over the back on the couch, a bored groan escaping her throat.

She did the only thing she knew how to do, call her friends.

"Hey Tay - do you wanna have the sleepover we didn't get to do before?"

* * *

Demi found herself staring back at her old house, goosebumps following her skin at the way the porch shook whenever someone was walking inside. The girl brought her fingers to the door, but couldn't bear to knock. A few possibilities ran through her; like if she could grovel back to Selena and beg her to forgive her for what she'd done. Huh, or maybe she could go homeless? Sleep on a bench, steal food from trash cans… No, it wasn't worth it.

The girl knocked three times, the first one weak but the last two powerful. When the door swung open, her dad's eyes widened.

"Oh, Demetria!" Demi's eyes widened as her dad pulled her in for a hug, his hands bringing her back closer. "I've missed ya so much, honey. I've never regretted anything more than kicking ya out…"

"Really?" Demi's voice cracked; she was so stupid. She should've came back earlier, she shouldn't have gotten so wrapped up in the person that has hated her forever and will continue to do so. Even if… her lips were soft, and she was nice to hold—no matter!

"Who's that, honey?" Her mother rounded it corner, and her father pulled her inside, worry ridden on his face when her mother scowled. "Get her out of here!"

"Now, Honey," her dad began, resting his hand on Demi's opposite shoulder. "I think we should give her a chance… we were pretty bad parents, huh?"

Mrs. Lovato's face turned to a beet red and she turned around, stomping off into the kitchen while Demi just sighed and looked to her feet. Even still, her Dad patted her back.

"Bah, don't worry about her. She'll come around. So—where'd ya go? How'd ya live?"

Demi rubbed her eyes with two fingers, a long, pent-up sigh running from her stomach, "I fucked up real bad, Dad."

Mr. Lovato throatily chuckled, turning to face her. He gave her a supportive smile, "I did too, Hon, I don't even understan' how I was so mean to ya."

"Dad, I mean," Demi looked at him sadly, her shoulders slumped, "I dunno. I was living with someone who hated me… I thought we got along but…"

Her dad urged her on after she went a few minutes without continuing.

"I don't know. She's embarrassed of me. I liked her, too, I guess, but it wasn't meant to be." Demi shrugged, averting eye contact with her dad. it felt good to talk to someone, however—Demi was glad that he wasn't hitting her or insulting her. She'd have to ask him what changed his mind, but right now she was too incompetent to form sentences correctly.

"Liked her as a friend," her dad moved his head to the side questionably, "Or as more?"

Demi shuffled her feet, and her Dad rubbed her shoulders with a sigh, "Oh, yeah, I know how that feels."

"You're not mad?" Demi asked, her eyes filled with concern. She assumed that her parents would be outrageously mad if she ever liked anyone of the same gender—but her father seemed relatively calm.

"Your Momma might have some choice words," he tried to joke, "But I'm okay with it, Darlin. Now go get some rest."

Demi beamed happily, and it was a pretty real smile, too. She marched up her rickety stairs, noticing the finger marks in dust on the windowsill from when Selena was here. Demi shook it from her thoughts and continued up the stairs. Selena didn't matter right now; Selena was no longer apart of her life.

She didn't miss her at all... but she was lying to herself.

Loserville; population of one.

* * *

"I have to warn you, I'm a cuddle bug," Selena warned her friend as she hopped into bed, the mattress bouncing her up once before settling her down.

"That's okay," Taylor laughed, blowing on her hot pink nails. "My sister is one too."

Selena smiled happily and rested her head on the pillow. The whole night had taken her mind off of the dark-haired girl—she who shall not be named—but when Selena started to talk about what it feels like when you're in love, the _only_ thing that came her mind was just: _Demi, Demi, Demi!_

It didn't matter, though! Selena was _completely_ over her. Well, she _wished_ that she was over the girl right now, hugging her torso— _no_! She didn't wish that, she was done with trying to please Demi.

The girl let herself fall asleep next to Taylor, wondering how awkward it would be when she woke up. While she fell asleep, the girl contemplated what to say; like 'Oops, sorry!' or something simple like that.

When she woke up, she was neither wrapped up in Taylor nor was she remotely _close_ to her. In fact, they were lying on opposite sides of the bed, and Selena was sure that she didn't even move all night. She had felt so empty all night; she missed holding someone. She thought it would ebb away when her brain forced her to cuddle with Taylor; but her brain did not do anything.

It was like once you finally get it—in this case, Demi's warmth—you can't live without it. Selena refused to believe it though; she wanted to tell herself that she did not need Demi. So, in her low moment, she brought herself close to Taylor and wrapped her arms around her carefully, waiting for the same feeling that she felt with Demi.

But it felt so _wrong_ ; in two different ways. Taylor didn't feel the same as Demi, it felt like nothing compared to Demi's cuddles. She felt so horrible cuddling with the girl that she immediately retracted her hands and nervously scooted back. It was also wrong that she used Taylor like that; Taylor was her best friend! If Taylor ever knew, she would probably be a mix between upset and disgusted. Ugh!

Selena forced herself to stand up, it was finally Friday and she'd have to drive Taylor to school. But Selena couldn't focus on that right now, she stomped to the bathroom and pouted all the way there.

 _Stupid Demi. Why does she have to be cute and why do I need her? This isn't fair._ It's worse than when she was gone from school and Selena sat around all day with nothing to do but mope.

Selena gasped and thought back to what Taylor said last night,

" _God, Selena, Do you know what it's like to be in love?" She asked with glee in her eyes, her phone clutched close to her pink pajamas._

" _I dunno," Selena shrugged._

" _Well, it's like… you miss someone whenever they're not near you, touching them gives you butterflies—" the girl dragged on, swooning about some guy in her school; but all Selena could think about was_ _ **her**_ _. "Oh, and they're like, the most gorgeous thing you've ever seen, even if other people think they're not… It's like this sensation, where every time you're with someone you just, melt. Everything you want to do is about them, and you, just, together. Every night, you lay down and just think about them, and wonder if they're thinking about you. Every moment you share with them is just, happy. So dang happy."_

 _Selena smiled and nodded, closing her eyes blissfully. Right…_

She was missing Demi right now, and she missed her when they were fighting—but that's _different_! Just because touching or cuddling with Demi gave her a bit of a flutter doesn't mean anything either; she was just… sick! Demi might be unremarkably beautiful, as well, but—oh, and don't forget the cute way her eyes sparkle when she smiles—that doesn't really account to anything either! Every moment after they made up may have been happy, but it meant absolutely nothing! Just because Selena literally could sink into Demi's arms and sleep there for days was just… because she was a cuddlebug!

No, she was only a cuddle-bug for Demi. she didn't cuddle with Taylor, Taylor felt wrong in her arms, the idea of anyone else dating Demi other than her sickened her.

That was the whole problem; she was in love with Demi Lovato.

Loserville; population of one.

* * *

 **yes,,, i love making references back to the title it's really fun oops**

 **anyways see yall, review if u would be so kind :^)**


	22. Bathroom

**hewwo? yay ! new chapter for u lovelies :^)**

 **i think u will enjoy this one so :)**

* * *

Selena chewed on her lip eagerly; it was third period and she she hadn't seen Demi at all! The girl had skipped spanish, and even thought Selena waited at her locked, she never came! Selena was beginning to get impatient, wondering when she'd ever get to apologize for what she had done. She had her moment of clarity early in the morning, right after Taylor had left to get ready at her own house. She came to realize that she would rather have Demi even if she was hated throughout the world rather than not have her at all.

It sounded exactly like a cheesy romance novel, but Selena could care less what her mind was saying—she was going to _fucking_ get Demi back, and that was final. How, exactly, she would do that was a bit foggy; but she was trying her best!

From the corner of her eyes, she saw the girl walk past her classroom, and bathroom pass dragging on the floor as she walked. Selena grinned almost wildly, but tried to cover it as she asked to go to the bathroom calmly. It took a little bit of charm and some 'girl problem' talk, but the teacher eventually let her leave.

Demi had already turned into the bathroom stall, so Selena ran after her, not caring if anyone saw her chasing after the girl.

"Demi," the girl looking in the mirror froze, slowly turning her head around to face her.

"Sel," Demi began, but shook her head. "Selena—what are you doing here?"

Selena took a minute, breathing in the face that she missed seeing so badly; while Demi stared at her with wide eyes. Without wasting a minute, Selena leapt forward and captured her lips in a kiss, using her waist as leverage to pull her closer. Demi's tiny moan was muffled by full, cherry-red lips; and her knees wobbled roughly.

"Selena…" The girl began, hitting her back against the bathroom wall.

"I was so wrong, Dems," Selena cut her off, breaking the kiss to simply hold her cheeks in her hands. "I don't care. I don't care what any of them _fucking_ say, I just… I need you."

Demi gulped, she was sure the blood vessels in her eyes were popping from how long she'd kept them widened. Was she telling the truth? Because, _god_ was it hard to not run into her arms and kiss along her jawline. Demi breathed, "You're sure, Selena?"

Selena flung her arms behind the girl's neck and over her shoulders, bringing her in for another kiss. "I'm so sure, Dems."

Demi smiled into the kiss, bringing her fingers through the girl's raven hair. She felt her shiver in her grasp, and Demi couldn't believe how much she missed the girl's hair. _God_ , everything about her… Well, Demi had to stop thinking because her knees were getting too weak to hold up her own weight.

Selena looked up to Demi, a frown on her face, "Where did you go when you didn't come to the apartment? I was so worried deep down… Please tell me you didn't go back home."

"I did," Demi answered, tucking a strand of hair from her face absentmindedly. "My dad is actually pretty nice, so don't worry."

"Oh," Selena scuffled her feet, a bit concerned, "Are you still gonna live with me?

Demi's eyes softened and she grabbed ahold of the girl's chin, pulling it up so she looked at her. "Of course, Sel, I don't want you to have to ignore that second chair for the rest of your life."

Selena smiled brightly, wrapping her in a hug. Demi just laughed a bit, seeming to forget their location. They were in the school bathroom; Demi's heels backed against the tile wall and Selena's body pressed against hers.

"Hey, Dems," Selena tucked the top of her head under the girl's chin, "I think I'm in love with you."

Demi stroked the back of the girl's hair lovingly, and pulled her closer. She giggled at this, so Demi smiled, "Me too, Sel, me too."

* * *

"We are not letting her back into this house," her mom struck at the man once the girl had been dropped off at school.

"Why? Myra, I think―"

Myra stopped him, "No, Phil, you never think anything good for us. She's almost an adult, and we can't support her. She's only been a burden to us; it's best…"

Demi's dad breathed in, shutting her down with his hands. The man turned away, grinding his teeth together, "All I ever do is listen to ya, I wanna start thinkin' for myself and my daughter. Things hav'nt been too good, Myra―but it's cruel to ignore her rights. I been reading about abusive homes,"

"We aren't an _abusive home_!" Myra defended, stepping forward to match her husband's stride. "When needed, we enforced punishment. That isn't abusive."

He inhaled sharply, rubbing his temples with two fingers while his palm mapped his lips and cheeks. The man slowly brought his hand down to his sides and tried to reason with his wife.

"Myra, I ain't saying we are one―I'm just saying that I don't wanna become one," he breathed, knowing that his wife had a lot of anger issues that he had agreed to handle when he married her, "Things been hard, but they been hard for her too."

Myra took a few close-repeated breaths, her eyes never leaving the ripped holes in his jeans. The girl unlatched her keys from the hook of the wall, grabbing the door handle quietly. She turned back to her husband deftly, "Alright, Paul… It seems like you've chosen something that has been hurting me since it was born. So, I don't know, find me when you've come to your senses. I just,"

Her eyes softened, but she hid them with her dusty blonde hair, "I just can't be with someone who chooses something so horrible over me."

"Myra, don't―" Paul didn't know what he could do; she had never acted this way before. Usually it was just some trauma or an outburst that he'd settle with some calm words, but now she was leaving.

Her mother didn't reply, nor did she flinch or hesitate. She pried open the sticky, creaking door and shut it weakly behind her. Paul could not move, his eyes popping wide. Even if Myra seemed toxic; he loved her. Demi would be coming home soon; but his eyes were watering. If he let his daughter see him cry; it would be the end of his entire life.

Paul brought his phone from his back pocket and took a deep breath. He silently texted, _Demi, please don't come home._

* * *

 **big cliffhanger sorry, but ! at least they big made up? :^)**


	23. Home

**big cute chapter ngl, writing these characters makes me cope w my schoolwork so,,, yes enjoy**

 **LONG CHAPTER !**

* * *

 _Bzzt_.

Demi flicked off her phone notifications, the teacher glaring at her from across the room while she talked. It was seventh period, and eighth period was a free period for today. It was something about them doing well on the state finals; but she wasn't paying attention, she was looking at Selena. Demi was glad there was no Art class today, because she had yet to finish her assignment.

Unfortunately in English, the teacher had of course separated them into two different sides of the room. She couldn't help but feel spiteful for that, which was basically the only time she would ever feel angry that she wasn't sitting next to Selena. Like an alternate reality, Selena turned and gave her a smile before writing down more notes in her notebook.

Demi smiled widely back, and she hurriedly continued to write her notes. Her life was finally peaking its tiny nose up to the sky, and the girl was encouraging it to do so. Sure, nothing was _perfect_ yet, but the girl was okay with it being a little better than bad.

Suddenly, the rummaging of bad and classwork woke her from her thoughts, and she came to recognize the sound of her classmates packing up. Her teacher rebelled, saying that they shouldn't start to pack until she said to―but everyone continued anyways. Students stood and travelled to their friends' desks, and she soon found Selena looming over hers, hands pressed against her desk top and upper body leaning towards her.

"Class was fun," she tried to start conversation.

" _Yeah_ , sure," Demi replied in a sarcastic, cynical way.

Selena just scoffed, eyes brightening for a second, "I just remembered that eighth period is free! We can go home early."

The girl did a happy twirl, and Demi laughed, unbothered by the unpleasant stares of her classmates. They murmured, "Why are they talking?", "They look like friends," and not to mention the unavoidable, "Why is she talking to her? She's so gross."

Selena seemed to notice her uncomfortable stance, so she opened her ears to other voice aside from Demi's.

"Hey, can you back off?" She spat at the owner of the last comment, "She's not gross. We're _friends_ now, so I'd appreciate it if you left her alone."

Demi would say something, but she wasn't too sure about what she would say. When the bell rang, Selena grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the classroom, eyes following her in shock. The girl's face sung with fury, and her grip tightened the more they walked.

"Ow…!" Demi hissed, but felt bad when Selena's eyes widened. "I mean,"

"Agh, I'm so sorry," the girl let go of her wrist, instead pressing her fingers against the girl's palm. "I didn't mean to grab so hard, I'm just so peeved."

Demi nodded nicely, ruffling her hair, "Don't worry about it."

Selena grumbled and fixed her hair, sticking out her tongue at the girl. Her fingers sieved through her hair and readjusted the knots, a lot of 'hmphs' coming from her mouth.

Demi bit her lip quietly, trying to control the shakiness in her knees at the girl. She was so _pretty_ , it was almost a fucking crime.

"So, are you gonna stay at my house now?" She begged after flopping her hair to one side of her shoulder. "Please?"

"Hold on, just let me text my dad," Demi pulled out her phone, noticing the three new messages that lit up on her screen. "He already texted me…"

 _ **DAD :**_ _Demi, please don't come home._

 _ **DAD :**_ _Your mother is being weird, I don't want you to get involved._

 _ **DAD :**_ _I just need to talk to her_

"Woah," Selena noted, reading over her shoulder in surprise. "What happened?"

Demi murmured a low whimper, leaning her head into Selena's, "I'm scared."

Selena clutched the girl's shoulders tightly, rubbing her arms softly, "It's okay. I'm sure your dad is fine."

Demi looked up, trying to think about something other than her dad. Her dad was strong, yes, but Myra had always been just a bit stronger. Whenever they'd fight, her dad would try to calm the woman, but would always end up failing.

"You think so?"

Selena's smile perked up at the end of her lips, bringing Demi's face into hers. She enveloped the girl's lips with her own, breaking the sad girl from her thoughts.

Demi smiled back, hugging her tightly. Their cheeks grazed a bit, and Demi's chin was resting carefully on Selena's shoulder.

 _God_ , she would live in Losertown with this girl anyday.

* * *

Demi slumped her bag to the side of Selena's door, jumping onto the couch, "Ah, I missed this couch."

"What'd ya miss most?" Selena asked with a smile, hanging her purse on the hook, opposed to Demi's mess-making habits.

The messy girl looked up and beamed, "You, of course."

"Good answer!" Selena laughed, poking her cheeks on either side.

" _Gahh_ ," Demi flinched away, using her hands to shoo. "I still know where you're ticklish."

She reached up to the girl's ear, brushing her fingers up and down the outside. Selena's shoulder defensively perched up, crushing Demi's fingers in between her shoulder and her ear. A giggle escaped her lips, but her face read anger.

"Hey! Not fair…" Selena pouted, swatting Demi's reaching hand away when she was trying again.

"But it's funny, Selena!" The other girl smiled, resulting in the sad pout transforming into a smile of her own.

"Is not," Selena retorted, crossing her arms.

"Mmm," Demi smiled, brushing their lips together, "Is too."

"O-okay," Selena started, dumbfounded by the loving eyes that pierced hers. "Is too."

Demi guffawed, holding her chest as she laughed. Meanwhile, Selena just glared, her dark brown eyes contracting. Demi snorted, "God, you're so in love with me!"

"Am not!" Selena rebutted, blushing heavily.

"Yes you are," Demi wiped a stray tear from her eye from the laughter, "You can't even sleep without me."

Selena scoffed, letting out a _pfft_ and rolling her eyes, "I can too."

"Wanna bet?"

* * *

"What are you doing?" Selena stumbled from the bathroom, noticing the covers pulled over the couch and a girl fluffing the pillows on the opposite side.

"Getting ready for bed." Demi shot her a smile back, "Since you don't need me in there with you… unless you want to admit defeat right now."

"Pfft," Selena waved her hand dismissively. "I can so sleep without you. Goodnight, comrade."

She gave Demi a quick salute before turning and marching right to her bedroom. Demi snorted, sinking into the couch cushions quietly. It was empty, and a bit cold, but Demi could suffice. However, she wasn't quite sure about Selena―but a bet's a bet.

Selena tossed to her other side. Her fingers reached for something, but they only found the wrinkles of her sheets.

She turned to the other side, and this time her fingers found where the bed ended and her nightstand began. The girl tucked the covers into a ball and pressed it close to her chest, but even when she had used up the whole blanket, it wasn't as warm as Demi.

"I hate losing bets," the girl mumbled to herself in her sleep, dreaming that the blanket ball was the girl lying on the couch outside her bedroom.

The girl slunk to her feet, letting the brown carpet in her room prickle her bare feet. Shuffling outside of the room, she noticed sparkling brown eyes staring back at her.

"Hey," Selena mumbled, noticing the chocolate pools blink, the shadows of her face lightening as she stood up.

"Lost the bet?" Demi asked with a smile, holding out her hand to the girl.

Selena took the girl's outstretched hand in hers, allowing herself to be pulled into the girl's warmth. She welcomed it with a hug, tightening her grip.

"I hate you," She muffled into the girl's shirt.

"You're hugging me like you love me," Demi pointed out, which Selena only dug her head further into her shirt in response.

"Shut up, just hold me."

Demi laughed, pulling the girl closer and falling back onto the couch with Selena in her arms. The girl kicked up the covers from beneath them, covering the girl who lay ontop of her with the blanket.

"I love you too, Selena."

Selena perked her head up from the girl's chest, smiling brightly, "You do?"

"Yup," Demi ran her fingers through the girl's hair.

Selena smiled with glee, pulling herself up so their faces lined up evenly. The girl brushed noses with her, and Demi laughed at her silliness. Selena began to speak, grabbing Demi's attention:

"Date me."

Demi sputtered in surprise, dropping her hands from the girl's waist in shock. Selena's smile turned to a crooked frown, but Demi quickly fixed her mistake.

"Y-yeah! Yeah! Of course, I—" Demi rested her hand on the girl's cheek, which she leaned into softly. "Yes. I'll date you."

Selena smiled, losing her support and falling freely onto Demi's lips. The bottom girl had to resist a laugh at her excitement, instead curling her fingers against the girl's cheeks. Demi wrapped an arm around the girl's back, while Selena snuggled into her neck.

Demi just looked down, stomach spurting with twists and turns that made her sick—lovesick. She felt like the she could lose her at any second, and so brought another arm just after her other one, tightening her grip and pulling her close.

Selena giggled and pressed a kiss into the girl's neck, using her foot to plunge a blanket over her back. She felt so safe; so protected. A robber could bust in with a fully loaded gun and Selena would just curl up on Demi and go back to sleep.

She wished that she could sleep forever.

* * *

 **welcome to fluff town? population you**

 **thanks for reading i love u**

 **pass me a review if ur down**

 **see you around bud**


	24. Mall

**disclaimer: i do not hate any antagonist in this story or protagonist! they are just used for convenience, thank you**

* * *

Selena woke up to the feeling of comfortable skin below her, peeling her eyelids open to reveal the fast-asleep girl below her. She wished that she could sink back into the girl's chest, but she knew she had to get up. Sure, it took her awhile, but eventually she was dragging her feet across the kitchen floor and towards her coffee pot.

The coffee pot seethed and steamed, making the sound of screaming inside of the hot socket. Beeping ensued, confirming that the coffee was done. Selena unlatched the pot from the inside, popping open the top and pouring the hot liquid slowly. The creamy vanilla aroma drifted into her nostrils, the ecstacy of caffeine already giving her energy.

She heard a stifled groan from the couch, and she chuckled quietly. Demi had to be waking up now, and she was _so_ not a morning person. Which really conflicted with her, as well, because she took forever to get ready. However, the girl trudged up anyways, dropping her chin on the girl's shoulder so she could smell the coffee as well.

"Why are we up so early? It's Saturday…" she groaned; Demi always woke up when Selena did, it was just something that happened.

"Cuz," Selena stirred her coffee creamer in, "I wanted to do something."

"Like what?" Demi asked, her chin digging deeper into her shoulder. "I'm too tired. I'm going to the bed."

Selena snorted, taking a hit of her coffee. And yes, she called it a hit―because coffee was basically her drug. Without it, Selena wouldn't be able to get up so early and deal with the other girl's morning angst. Selena proceeded to follow the girl into her room, locking her fingers and stretching them above her head. Instead of curled up, like Selena imagined, Demi was perched up on the side of the bed, head in her hands with her fingers rubbing her eyes.

"What's up?" Selena asked slinging an arm around the girl's shoulders.

"I'm tired," the girl whined. "I didn't go to bed until you stopped snoring."

Selena's face flushed, "I do _not_ snore!"

Demi stretched her shoulders with a laugh, "You do. Just really quietly―but you can hear it pretty well when you're directly below the noise maker."

"Ugh! Whatever," the girl crossed her arms, setting her coffee down on the end table. "What do you want to do today?"

Demi thought for a second, but her eyes lit up in joy soon after. "Let's go shopping!"

Squelching, the girl squinted one eye and weakly smiled, "Really? Shopping? That's… what you're suggesting?"

"Do you not like shopping?" Demi asked, tilting her head.

" _Do you_ like shopping?" the other girl rebutted.

"Yea," the sleepy girl shrugged, the bags under her eyes slightly fading. "Cuz' I'm female."

Selena shrugged, "I don't―it's too stressful."

"Get off the bed." Demi half-joked, nudging the girl with her shoulder, while Selena let out an exasperated laugh and a glorified, " _What? Hey!"_

* * *

"I can't believe you dragged me into a _mall_." Selena hissed as they walked in, while Demi's eyes just filled up with joy.

"Y'know, I always saw you as the girl who adores shopping." Demi voiced her thoughts, looping her thumbs through the circles of her jeans, adjacent to the back pockets.

"Nah," Selena waved her hand, "I really don't like it. When I shop, I shop once and get a ton of stuff so I don't have to go again. It's just _so_ much pressure."

The shop-crazed girl shrugged, she could see that. However, Demi would always come to the mall with her grandma whenever she visited, and her grandma would buy her all the clothes her parents new bought her. She was so _bright_ in elementary school because of all the dresses her grandma would knit for her or buy her; and even if her parents were distant, she found it just fine.

When her Grandma died, however, the girl was plunged into an irretrievable depression, and Selena's constant torture didn't help her cause.

"Let's go in here," Demi interrupted her own thoughts, not wanting to go back to such a dark time. Instead, she looped fingers with the girl and pulled her along. Selena and her were better now―there was no reason to retreat back to the hidden memories of her past.

"Whaddya think?" Demi asked, puckering her lips together and posing dramatically for Selena.

"Haha," Selena snorted, pointing at her straw hat and overalls. They had spent over an hour in this specific store, just trying on clothes and laughing at each other.

"Ladies," the manager raised her eyebrows at the teens, "I'm going to have to ask you to leave, you're very disruptive."

"That's the third store that's kicked us out!" Demi joked, pulling off the overalls and slinging the sunny straw hat back on its hook. The girl linked arms with Selena with a laugh, running out of the store and onto the next.

Without warning, Selena smashed into someone's neck, and groaned with a hand over her head. She muttered a sorry when she opened her eyes, but gaped at her friend, Jennifer.

Three shopping bags were looped around her arms, and designer sunglasses were sitting atop of her hair. Jennifer squinted at their locked arms, recoiling back.

"Selena? Why are you with her?"

Selena breathed in, puffing her chest out, "I… She's not so bad, Jen. You should give her a chance."

Jennifer snorted, pulling her phone out of her back pocket with a laugh. She jeered, "I thought Taylor was being dramatic when she said you two were really friends,"

Demi instinctively tugged Selena closer to her when Jennifer took a stride forward, her lips curled in a scornful smile.

"That's okay, you both are a perfect match for each other," Demi loosened her grip a bit at this, thinking that it was a compliment. "You both are ugly whores, any-who."

Selena's arm twitched slightly, and her eyes widened at her red-haired friend's words. Demi knew that Selena was very sensitive, and that words would always hurt her. Maybe not if they came from a stranger, but if they were coming from her friend, Demi knew it hurt. So, she unhooked her joints from Selena's and took a step forward, the cloth of Jen's shirt balled up in her fists.

" _What_?"

* * *

 **damn demi is gonna _beat_ a bitch**

 **i hope you're digging this story, it's super fun to write lol**

 **next chapter is the BIG ENDING! it's gonna be WAY short, just bc i want to wrap some stuff up neatly with a ribbon and a bow**


	25. End

**FINAL CHAPTER! i hope you all had an nice ride w me, i really enjoyed writing this!**

 **as i said, this is very short and a bit unfulfilling but it feel like it was getting super long haha**

* * *

Jen's eyes widened, her thick red curls framing over her cheeks. She laughed nervously, "You heard me. In fact, I wouldn't be sur—"

Demi didn't even let her finish; she dove into the girl's face with her right fist, remembering when she had punched Selena back in the courtyard. Somehow, the punch she delivered to Jen was a lot harder, filled with seeping rage that boiled over her fingertips.

Jen cried out in pain, placing three fingers against the new injury on her face. Demi raised her fist again, but stopped as two arms wrapped around her hips, a face pressed against her back.

"Stop it! Stop it, Demi," Selena cried, and Demi felt her tears soaking through the thin T-shirt she was wearing. Demi immediately loosened her fists on the girl's shirt, watching her face recoil into three different emotions. Demi thought she would insult her, but instead she ran off with her phone shaking in her fingertips.

Demi spun around and pulled the girl in for a hug, letting the girl ruin her new shirt with the running mascara on her face.

"Don't believe any of that," Demi soothed once they had returned back to the car, standing outside the front passenger seat. Demi sieved her fingers through the girl's hair softly, resting her palm on the nape of her neck.

"You're beautiful," Demi began again, opening her door for her while she climbed in from the other side. Selena simply slammed her head against the steering wheel, resonating a beep that echoed through the parking lot.

"I'm not worried about that," she complained, sighing when Demi pulled her head up from the loud wheel. "Jen is such a blabber-mouth, she's gonna tell everyone."

"I don't care," Demi brushed a kiss against the lobe of her ear, which she giggled at. "Nobody should treat you like that."

Selena crawled over the mechanics for the car, resting her hips along Demi's thighs. The girl leaned into her chest, her head banging against the girl's collarbone.

"Loserville, population of one…"

"What?"

Selena shot up from Demi's chest. She had always just _thought_ about that comedic line, she had never truly said it. In an attempt to make herself seem not as weak, she cleared her throat:

"Loverville, population of one."

Demi's smile ate up her face, reaching her eyes brightly. Selena loved that smile so much, it just told her that Demi was _really_ happy and nothing could bring her down. Demi reached up and brought a hand to her cheek, making small strokes with her index finger,

"I'll be here in Loserville, too," she pressed a kiss against the girl's lips.

Loserville had never felt so welcoming.

* * *

 **yes! and with that, the story is BIG DONE! i MIGHT be able to make a sequel, but you guys have to let me know! review, PM me, etc! just let me know :^)**

 **i had SO MUCH fun writing this-i loved developing the characters and such.**

 **see ya around buddy!**


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